Hands on Windows 7 – Just can’t wait!
I have been wanting to download and install Windows 7 right from the moment it was released as a public beta. Time has just arrived for me. Just before i started my way to the office, i started the download for Windows 7 from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/beta-download.aspx I just couldn’t stop thinking about it right through my day at office. Some busy moments in my office kept my thinking at bay. I finished my office and my way back home, i just kept thinking about it again. Various questions came to my mind to avoid any kind of disappointment, “would the download be successful?” Keeping myself in a positive mind frame, I was hoping to have a taste of Windows 7.
When i came home, i saw my PC still running. It was relieving. Straight away i turned my monitor on and i was happy to see “ Download Complete”. The next moment, i burned the ISO image on to a DVD. It took about 10 mins to complete the process. I did have a spare 40GB HDD with me that i could use for this purpose. To be frank, I did not like the installation part of Windows 7. It was a bit slow than expected. It took about 35 mins for it to load everything. The next thing to happen is the best part of Windows 7. I did not have to install a single piece of driver software. Unbelievable it was. It picked up my Video card, sound card, Norton IS install was a breeze, Nortel VPN client was easy to install. It was a pain to find specific softwares for Vista.
I am more than happy with the way things have worked with Windows 7. I still have a few more test that i need to perform for it to be described as the trouble free OS. Fingers crossed that it keeps working like this right throughout my testing phase. I will be testing it in the next couple of days and will give my verdict! So far so good.
Busy Day
It’s been busy for the past couple of days at the office. People on Annual leave, on sick leave, meetings and all other personal things. The week started on the wrong note, busy right from start to the end. It’s good in one way in these quiet times. By the way, it wasn’t hot as it was to be. Lucky for us the as cool winds brought us some good change. Last night was horrible though.Warm weather continued right until this morning.
Just waiting for the weekend to come. Anyway i have classes on the week end to keep my occupied. I may be taking my camera with me. With long sunny and bright evenings, i am planning to take some photos around St.Kilda.
Summer at last
Summer at last. We’ve been waiting for the sun to shine harder and hotter. What started to be a bleak summer, finally getting the feel of the hot weather, light has been shone! it was hot as today with temperature reaching 37 degrees. It’s been the hottest day of the year and more expected tomorrow. I usually don’t prefer the hot climate but for some reason have been wanting to have a hot day. Temperature are set to soar 39 degrees tomorrow. Lucky that I would be at my office chilling down in the Air con for most of the day.
Hopefully it doesn’t stay hot too long!
Firefox launches Fashion your Firefox
I have been a very big fan of Firefox, simply for the reason I love Firefox. I have been using Firefox for more than 4 years now, no other browser impressed me as much as Firefox. Extensions is the keyword. Gone are the days when you just used browser for reading content through internet. Today people use internet as a medium to socialize with people. A web browser plays a pivotal role these days. Wonder what could not be done with it? Everything… I mean EVERYTHING. Listening to radio station, IM’ing, one click access to your blogs, social networks, weather report and what not! It is amazing that technology has made the world small enough and make me wonder what else they can invent. Firefox amazes me so much that I haven’t had problems as i did with Internet Explorer and no more “ Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close” issues.
It’s been a smooth transition so far. Firefox keep improving their product so much that the spreading of Firefox is gaining fast momentum. You can download the new version of Firefox 3 from here. They have heaps of extensions and I just love it. The best add-on so far has been Adblock plus. What a wonderful add-on it’s been. I am just literally annoyed by the ads that are posted and hate to see them on websites. Install this add-on and I assure you that you will start to adore this fox. Recently, Firefox launched a website called Fashion your Firefox http://fashionyourfirefox.com It has the best of add-ons that you want. Just give it a try and I am sure you’ll love your browser.
A quiet day at the office
My work place has never been this quiet for a long time. The day started with very few problems, unusual considering the nature of my work. All of a sudden just around 10:00 am there was a buzz going around that someone has been made redundant. I could see people just standing up from their desk and doing a head count. Managers moving around with a notebook in hand means something. One by one people were called for meetings with their managers. A unknown feeling arouse within all our teams.Things unfolded very quickly as we came to know who were made redundant. Unbelievable it was. You could see people having discussions in the kitchen, their desks. All you hear was just whispers. It was a strange day at office. I wasn’t affected but the events did have an effect one me. Well you could do nothing but watch and console the one’s affected. Hopeful that I wont have to see this situation again.
Are you laid off?
Life is strange, wish you had the power to find answers for all the “why” questions. Apparently, you might get the answer; well you may think it’s too late. Never mind if you face hardships in your life. You have to come across few hardships and I think it’ the same for everyone. Be the bravest of all or the most coward, everyone face it as heroes and that’s the way to go. Don’t stress too much if you are being laid off. It’s the best time to gather all the strength you have and let’s face it. Well, I am not laid off, but there is a something very deep in my heart and I believe they call it Sympathy. Think about the people who take decisions? Isn’t their job tough? Believe me; it makes them think as if they have committed a sin. Even more worse if there is no fault on either side. Who do we blame? Fate, destiny, the company or the one who take the decision. We need to get past this storm. Who knows what lies ahead of us? If you can weather the storm, I believe that you would have come across the best part of your life. You’d like to ponder over and over again, how’d I overcome that? Wouldn’t that be a good story to tell you children?
The Brave call their fate, destiny! The cowards call their destiny, fate! Which one are you?
Michael Schumacher – Missing persona in F1
I never was a fan of Formula 1. But in recent times my thoughts about this sport changed. I started to watch F1 in the year 1999 when we first had the cable connection in my home. Having heard about Michael Schumacher, I became a fan. Years progressed; the more I got into the sport the more I started to like Ferrari and favored them to win every race. Michael is something special. If it wasn’t for him, the sport would have been less interesting. Be it the moves that he makes on the track or the controversy surrounding him, he took them in his stride 
and became a worthy winner. The controversy that he had created sparkled more debates and the news kept spreading. Many liked him and few disliked him for the controversy that he had created. After many years in F1, he’s become a legend. He’s left a space in F1 in recent times. Fernando Alonso was there, nearly there! but is antics at Mclaren in 2007 had the pundits thinking. He’s still far behind in catching the supreme star. Even though the last season (2007) was a thriller and kept everyone anticipating, I miss Michael. Michael’s records speak about a lot about the person he is. Ferrari were sprited by the presence of Michael. The sport feels a bit void at times without the star, but that’s part of life and part of sport. You need to miss your stars for the sport to be remembered. And yes, it’s been remembered. I’ am still following F1.
“Some times people make you remember few things; Sometimes few things make you remember people.”
The Brave One – Movie Review
It’s one of the movies that will make you feel the pain and indulge yourself. I love these kind of movies. It’s practical, meaning, it might have happened to you or may happen to you. I must say, if it wasn’t for Jodie Foster it would have been a movie that we might have pondered about after watching it. Jodie Foster plays Erica Bain who works for a radio company in New York. She looses her husband in a fight with goons. She becomes critically injured and she re-lives again. Even though the movie runs at a slow pace, the commiseration for Erica makes the movie moving forward. After losing her husband she becomes more vigilant in her activities and she starts to take things in her own hand. Being drawn into a new world, she starts to kill some thugs and even attempts to crack down some of the thugs who killed her husband. Detective Sean Mercer comes to play a important role who starts to find clues about the killing. He becomes more inclined towards her and they get into a sync and thereafter later in the movie he finds her as the culprit behind the killing. How Erica comes free from this is the remaining part of the story.
Jodie’s performance brings more marks to this movie. A movie for patient audience.
The Brave One:
Drama
Rating: R
Neil Jordan (dir.)
Jodie Foster
Terrence Howard
Naveen Andrews
Mary Steenburgen
Digsby – All in one IM
I was just browsing a website and came across this all in one IM. Quiet surprising! For all those who stay online IM’ing I would say, this would be the best app overhauling Yahoo, MSN and Gtalk messengers. Launched as a private beta version ,Digsby has shed this tag since then. Being a freeware, it has fared much better than Trillian and Pidign. It integrates well with facebook, MySpace and Twitter. The new version includes audio/video chat with the help of Tokbox . The latest update brings the list of supported instant messengers to:
- AOL
- MSN
- Yahoo!
- Google Talk
- ICQ
- Jabber
You can even add it as a widget to some of the social networking website’s. It also has e-mail notifications that appear neatly at the left hand side of the screen. You can add e-mail accounts such as AOL, MSN, Yahoo! GMail. You can configure Digsby to display a pop up alert every time you receive an email, every time a friend sends a message via Twitter, or every time someone changes their MySpace or Facebook status.The application is available for Windows XP and Vista. It is going be on my watchlist. I really love this Instant messaging application.
Visit: http://www.digsby.com/
Dasavatharam – Music review
Dasavatharam’s audio was released on the 25th of April. It was a rich event with film stars coming from everywhere. Jackie Chan was the chief guest with special invites like Amitabh Bachan, Hemamalini, Jayaprada and Malaika Sherawat, the event was made special. Ok! coming to the review. I would say typical music for Kamal Hassan. Himesh has really done his home work. Himesh has brought a bit of bollywood touch to the songs. The best song for me has been “Kallai Mattum Kandal” sung by Hariharan. Wonderful! It’s got a touch of a devotional song. Hope it’s pictured well. As usual Kamal has sung a song himself. There are six songs of which one is remix. Here’s my review!
Oh…Ho…Sanam
Singer : Kamal Haasan, Mahalakshmi Iyer
Well, Kamal has sung a another song! He has tried something but some one else would have done a better job. This song has a tang of balle balle! Hope this song for Daler Mehandi look alike.
Kallai Mattum
Singer : Hariharan, Chorus
This song is the best of the lot for me. Being a fan of Hariharan, it pleases me more than any thing. Wonderful score by Himesh.
Kaa…Karuppanukkum
Singer : Shalini Singh
What do i say about this song. The first time I heard this song, I could perceive that it is tailor made for Malaika. Hmm… I could not understand a word in the song. That’s the downside for this song.
Mukundha Mukundha
Singer : Kamal Haasan, Sadhana Sargam
The song starts with a tune from one of the Phalguni Phatak’s song. Kamal sings like a old lady at the end of the song. Another devotional like song. Looks like an introduction song for Asin.
Oh…Ho…Sanam (Remix)
Singer : Himesh Reshammiya, Mahalakshmi Iyer
Having a remix song in a album is becoming a trend. One more to the category. Himesh surely brings the bollywood touch to this song.
Well, the title of the song should give you an insight to the song. Yes! it is for Kamal. Watch out for the line… “Oscar thoorum ellai!”
A Special Moment …
Photograph – They say it captures your finest moments. You wont realize them until you have seen them. This photo had that effect on me. It was my graduation ceremony, my brother had come to Melbourne to attend. It was a dream come true for me. Every time I look at this photo, it gives me happiness. It’s one of the cherished moments in my life.
“There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved”
- George Sand
Anzac Day
It’s 25th April – Anzac Day. I thought I should do something useful. As it’s a long weekend and being lazy, i woke up at 9.00 in the morning and saw my friends going to work. Hmm… Bad start to the day. I was doing the usual thing… surfing the internet. I just came across this page and thought let this be my first post on wordpress. The text below was taken from the Australian War Memorial website.
ANZAC Day – 25 April – is probably Australia’s most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they soon took in that name endures to this day.
Why is this day special to Australians?
When war broke out in 1914 Australia had been a federal commonwealth for only 14 years. The new national government was eager to establish its reputation among the nations of the world. In 1915 Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula to open the way to the Black Sea for the allied navies. The plan was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul), the capital of the Ottoman Empire and an ally of Germany. They landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers were killed. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war.
Although the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives of capturing Constantinople and knocking Turkey out of the war, the Australian and New Zealand actions during the campaign bequeathed an intangible but powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as the “ANZAC legend” became an important part of the national identity of both nations. This shaped the ways they viewed both their past and future.
Unforgettable Journey – Finally in Chennai
After 4 hours of journey, i was in Chennai. It’s been a wonderful experience traveling with my friends. It was even more touching as I landed in Chennai 3 years after I left the country. I haven’t seen my parents for 3 years and it was the same with Vasanth. It’s hard to describe the feeling. Feeling happy for each other we started to leave the airport. Ramiya left early with her parents and Vasanth left too. Hope to get may more opportunities to travel with them and fill my memories with happy moments.
Unforgettable Journey – In Malaysia
Nearly 8 hours of journey completed. The place, Malaysia “Truly Asia”. At last we landed, got our luggages out of the cabin, walked down the alley and there was a train to reach the other side of the airport to complete the immigration process. We reached the immigration department, it was so quiet and the person sitting in the counter was almost half asleep. She stamped the wrong details on the passport and i said to her that something was wrong and she looked at the passport and made the changes. She made the changes to Ramiya’s and Vasanth’s passports. We got out of there and were nearing the customs check. The person standing there asked us “Are you coming from Melbourne?” we said yes and he said you can leave. You know what, Ramiya went back to the officer and asked him don’t you want the immigration paper and asked him all sorts of questions. He just tore a part of the immigration paper and asked her to leave. Soon after that she came near us and guess what, she questioned as to why he did not ask anything from both of us. We started to laugh. Said to her you are in trouble when you get back and pretended that it was something serious and somehow she knew that we were making fun. Suddenly the three of us asked the question “Where do we catch the taxi to the city?” Looking at the sign boards we found the place to catch the taxi. There was small problem between us. The board said “Limousine – 67.00 Ringetts “and “Taxi- 45.00 Ringetts”. Looking at the luggage’s we had, I said to them that we need to catch the limousi. Vasanth and Ramiya would not accept that and said that we can catch the taxi. So there was a heated discussion going on. At last as per the information that Ramiya collected prior to the journey, we concluded that the price would be 67.00 Ringetts to reach the city. So it was obvious that we need to catch the limousi. I had a stare at both of them and they said ” Seri, Seri… Va Polam.” We booked the limousi, and it was tough to fit in the limousi with all the luggage’s. It was so humid outside.It was around 6:30 am when we left the airport. It was a long journey. Within few minutes, Ramiya wanted us to speak with the driver and get few details of him so that we can go around places. So I started to speak to the driver and he was having trouble to replay us back as the medium of conversation was in English. I understood that he could not understand English and stopped asking him. Ramiya was not happy with that and out of curiosity she started to question the driver and after few question she said ” Paavam antha driver, he is having trouble understanding english”. Vasanth and myself had the heartiest of laugh and asked her ” Privileye ippdi thaana?” and she said “Pongada Panni Pasangala”.
We reached the hotel at about 7.30 am. We got our luggage’s and went to the reception. We took out the booking receipt and presented to the person in the reception. Looking at the receipt, the receptionist said that you could have your room by 2.00 pm in the afternoon. We said “What?” The receptionist also said that the manager would come here by 10.00 am and you could speak with to have you room allocated. We asked him where we could keep our luggage’s. Another person interrupted and said that you keep the luggage’s in the Conner and we could tie them together, it would be safe and probably come back
at 10.00 to take them. By the time we decided what we wanted to do it was almost 8.00 am.
Believing the person, we placed our luggage’s in the Conner and he took out a twine and rolled them over the luggage’s we had and tied them together. We were awed, and said “Ithu thaan ivunga oorula baathrama pathukuratha?”. Rays of sunlight started to fall in the lounge. We freshened up and were waiting for some one to take the morning shift as the receptionist. At last the new manager came in, I took the booking receipt to him and said that we are coming from Melbourne and wanting to have a room as early as possible, and Ramiya took over as the booking was under her name. The man gave us a room and we were happy. Soon after that Ramiya said that we need to get out of the room ASAP. She said “Guys, no sleeping”. She pre-planned what we need to do for the morning. We accepted to that and reached the room. Ramiya started, “Who’s first?” both of us asked for what? She said to take bath. The answer was so spontaneous and both of us mentioned” Ramiya “. We said “Lucky you!” She took her bath and came back in a jiffy. So it was me who went in next and Vasanth followed. We were out of the room by 9.00 am. We followed the road down the hotel and we came across a restaurant. The smell was so tempting, we started to feel hungry. We had the breakfast and we asked the person in the restaurant “How do we get to Twin Towers?” To our surprise he replied us in Tamil. We were so happy to have someone speaking our native language. The intuitive person (Ramiya) got more information as to do shopping.
It was hot day and we started to roam around. Just before we started we made phone call to our parents and they we excited that we almost there. We walked all the way to the Twin Towers and snapped some shots on the way. Once we reached there we went to the reception to get the entry tickets. Unfortunately we got the tickets for the 4:30 show. Meanwhile we had other plans as well. One of us bought the tickets and Ramiya went to information center to get some info about shopping centers. After getting the tickets, we went to few shopping centers. As it was a dry and hot day, we were thirsty. We have Ezhani and WOW it was refreshing. Soon we felt hungry and went to a restaurant called Rekha Restaurant. The food was wonderful but a bit expensive. After having the food, we felt a bit heavy and our eyes started to droop. Luckily, our hotel was near by and we had and hour’s sleep. As it was 4.00 we were getting ready to visit the Twin Towers. We reached there and it was a very good experience. As we were walking, Ramiya started to plan things for the next day. The next days plan was simple. Visiting Batu caves was the only agenda for the day. Vasanth and I were happy. After seeing the Twin Towers we headed back to the room. Vasanth and I were very eager to eat in a restaurant that we saw just outside out hotel. We had our dinner in that restaurant and man! The food was heavenly. We had Chicken, Mutton and Fish Kolambu. After having the dinner we headed back to the room and everyone fell asleep very soon.
The next day, we went to Batu caves and we worshipped lord Murugan! It was an awesome experience. We paid 100 Ringetts to a taxi driver and asked us to take us there. Our flight was only in the evening. The driver was saying that there was a rally happening in the city and advised that we leave early. As advised, we left early to the airport and we were wandering at the airport for a long time. The most awaited moment was nearing and all three of us were excited. People started to queue in and we were ready for the journey India. We boarded the flight and were traveling to Chennai.
Unforgettable Journey – In the plane
My flight was at 00:45. Started from at home at 8:20, everyone was so surprised and questioned, ” Your flight is at 00:45, why are you leaving so early?”. They also quoted that we were well organized. I could do nothing but laugh at myself.We were surprised by the question! Alright, all three of us thought to do something funny before we got into the flight. We said to ourselves that we would keep the right leg in the flight the same time. A bit superstitious, I know! Our friends came to drop us at the airport. We were happy, but Ramiya was a bit tensed. Guess what? she started the questions again, the thing that Vasanth and myself would not like. Good thing was, we answered all her questions (10/10). Good work done by us! I say this because, its too hard to give answers for the questions that she asks.
We did reach the airport in 15 min’s and probably that’s why everyone questioned us. We were not sure where to proceed, we were waiting for few other friends and Felix uncle’s family. At last we were standing just in front of the counter and the sign said, open for checking for flight No. MH 128. Oh! it was good feeling. I breathed deeply, and walked towards the counter. There was a long queue, we were a bit surprised. The officer in the counter said, “Next, Thanks!”. Of course, it was us. We went to him and said, ” Hi, how are ya?”. Looking at each other face with the obvious question ” What’s going to happen?” As always things went right, but we had to wait for 20 min’s. Everything done! we saw Felix sir and Mam, we had a long chat with them before we left for customs. Muthu, Waletrs, Deepan, Jyo, Minto and Terry wished us a safe journey. With blessings from Felix sir and Mam we left for customs check. It was a long queue, thought it would be late to get inside. It was just a bluff and we were out of the customs check in 15 min’s. We had an hour left to board the flight. We, waited and the green lights for the flight call started to flash. The announcement to board was heard loud and clear. We walked down the way to board the flight. There was a hush and then, “Wait, we’ll put our right legs together!” and it did happen. We did what we wanted to. Apparently, there was a problem, Who should sit by the window? Guess who won the battle, it was Vasanth. Ramiya was so generous to give the seat with one condition, On her way back to India from KL she must be given the seat. Okay! fair enough, we agreed to it.
Then all three of us started to feel hungry, we were waiting to see if they would serve something for us. After few minutes we had a chicken baguette and some orange juice. We felt a bit energetic. Vasanth and Ramiya started to fiddle their remote to watch the movie, it did not work. They took mine and tested to see, it didn’t work either. We left it back in its place. Just after few minutes there was an announcement, “The entertainment system is turned on ” Ramiya and Vasanth started to see if it was working. Unfortunately, it was not. They tried on mine, but it wouldn’t work. Something was wrong, we called up the air hostess to check what happened, she also said “We have to reset the system again”. They fixed the system and started to work again.
It was a long journey, at half past one, i fell asleep, meanwhile Ramiya and Vasanth were still watching the movie. I was really feeling uncomfortable with my long legs and was cramping. With my eyes half open, i had a glimpse of the movies Ramiya and Vasanth were watching, and at some point of the journey, i presume they fell asleep. That was good news. Few hours later, the air hostess came near and woke us giving a piece of tissue paper to refresh ourselves. Looked at the time and it was 3.30 and just a hour left to land Malaysia. Felt happy but were starting to get tiered. We had chicken sausage and orange juice for the morning. Was a bit refreshing but was not enough. It’s 4.45 am and time to land.
