Abstract Art

Bangalore Traffic

2009-01-22T22:38:00.001-08:00

wanna ride
Originally uploaded by krish_sid

The Bangalore taffic police has decided that the solution to all our traffic woes is to put more traffic signals on the roads. And for once I agree with them.
But that's as far as we think alike. In true Bangalore style, they've not thought this through. There are now traffic signals on main roads without any intersections, on 'T' junctions where there's no traffic from one directions, on ONE WAYS.
I've thought about writing to someone about these but, a) i don't expect a response. b) i don't know who to write to. The newspapers have been going on and on about the traffic probelms and they've only fallen on deaf ears.

My solution?
1. Lets remove the traffic signals that are not required. make circles (proper ones) and fly overs (that don't take 15 years to complete).
2. Lets IMPROVE the public transport. And by public transport, I don't mean auto's and taxi's, mass rapid transport systems, busses and trains.
3. STOP DIGGING ROADS. Charge departments that are digging the roads and get them fixed in 2 days. not 2 years after the entire road has disintegrated.
4. Encourage cycling. Make cycle lanes where possible and challan people who drive on them.

The aim is to get people off the roads. By first providing better and easier public transport.

ip address

2008-09-03T20:18:00.001-07:00

123.237.222.22

2008-05-07T00:12:00.000-07:00

i quite like this sort of thing :)

quiz - part II

2007-09-08T00:39:00.001-07:00

Music
1. What’s common amongst these songs “English tea” and “Good day sunshine”. Besides the fact that both are Paul McCartney songs. Hint: (1/2 pts) both were on this historical play list on Nov 12, 2005. What’s special about this play list.
- This was the first gig to be broadcasted live into space as a wake up call to the two members Bill McArthur and Valery Tokarev of the international space station live.
2. Which pop group named themselves after a fictional band from the novel "A Clockwork Orange"?
- Heaven 17
3. This brilliant artist was known to pour iced water over his head every time he wrote music.
- He wrote 9 symphonies, 6 concertos ( 5 piano, 1 violin), many sonatas and even one opera
- Beethoven
4. What’s common between Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain
- They all died at age 27
5.

Sports

History
1. What was the capital of India during the British rule?
- Calcutta
2. Which art gallery is named in honor of a sugar refiner who made it big after buying the patent on the manufacture of sugar cubes in 1872?
- Tate Gallery
3. In 1902, Lord Curzon visited it with the intention of filing a report on how it would best serve British interests. He went back with the opinion that it was a lifetime experience and that it would be heinous to interfere. But , a little later, the venerable engineer Sir M. Visveswaraiah scrawled the words “What a waste” in the visitor’s book. What location?
- Jog Falls
4. Collado Mediano is a town located in the Guadarrama mountains, 48 km north-west from Madrid. Which well -known top-ranked sportsperson , who has been conferred the Jameo do Oro, one of Spain’s highest civilian awards given to a foreigner, resides here?
- Vishwanathan Anand

GK

Origins

Comics

Bangalore

DC

Miscellaneous
1. At the global level, this record is held by th e Agricultural Bank of China unit at Naqu. In India, till recently, the record was held by the UTI bank unit at Thegi, but it is to be overshadowed soon by the Union Bank of India unit at Sherathang. What are we talking about?
- ATM at the highest altitude
2. One part of its name comes from the fact that it makes its home among the boundaries of fields and pastures. The other part comes from its habit of rooting for food like members of the pig family. The adjective “erinaceous” is derived from the Latin name for this animal. What animal?
- Hedgehog
3. This animal is known by a name derived from the Norwegian word for ‘destroying’. His name is an allusion to something that happens every four years, according to lore. What animal?
- Lemmings
4. What’s common between orange, purple, silver, or month.
- There is no English word that rhymes with any of these words.
5.

Table Round
- film quotes
o Hindi
o English
- Anagrams

Anagrams
1. namma bengalooru - A Abnormal One Gum
2. Eleven plus two=Twelve plus one
3. Astronomers=Moon Starers
4. The Morse Code = Here Come Dots
5. Year Two Thousand = A year to shut down
6. Election results = Lies - let's recount
7. The Germans soldiers = Hitler's men are dogs
8. Jim Morrison = Mr. Mojo Risin
9. Two Goa Bloodsheds = godse oswald booth
10. Dormitory = Dirty Room

quiz questions

2007-07-19T01:48:00.000-07:00

as i'm fairly certain no one reads this blog i'm writing all quiz questions here. if someone stumbles on this ;-)

1. Wrigley's gum besides being given way free with baking powder in 1891 is more important for another reason, what?
- it was the first product to have a bar code on it.

2. Besides there being only one king of hearts in a pack of cards, what's different about this king?
- no mustache

3. daisy & I'm not talking about the one who lives in Disney land but the one from the university of stanford is popular for destroying this myth. what's the myth?
- a ducks quack doesn't echo

4. the olympia rings are in face color rings. what are these colors and why were they chosen?
- blue, red, yellow, black & green because these are the primary colors in every countries flag.

5. The puzzle, known as Number Place in the US, was first published in New York in the late 1970s by the puzzle publisher Dell in its magazine Math Problems and Logic Puzzles. It became immensely popular in the UK in 2005, stimulating international interest. What is its popular name which is also the Japanese for ‘single number’?
- Sudoku

6. His name, little known, is Prem Behari Narain Raizada (Saxena, Don't say Dr Ambedkar), son of Brij Behari Narain Raizada of Delhi. He wrote a well-known ‘thing’ in his own hand, using a flowing italic style in the best calligraphic traditions of our country. What did he write?
- The Constitution of India

7. This 1956 song, written by Tommy Durden & Mae Axton, was the first song recorded by Elvis Presley to reach the top of the US charts. The song had its roots in a report in the Miami Herald newspaper about a suicide victim who left a note containing the words "I walk a lonely street." Identify song
- Heartbreak Hotel

8. "Peace is a lie, there is only passion / Through passion, I gain strength / Through strength, I gain power / Through power, I gain victory/ Through victory, my chains are broken/ The Force shall free me." In popular culture/fiction, this is called "The ------- Code". What?
- Sith Code

9. She starred in the first tele-film on national television, Janam, opposite Kumar Gaurav. She later became popular in soaps like Khandaan and Naqab. She is back in the news for her role in a recent film. Name her.
- Shernaz Patel, in the movie black

10. The playing surface in this sport can be made of any material as long as it answers to this
specification: a standard ball, dropped on to it from a height of 12 inches must rebound to a height of 9 -10 inches. Which sport?
- Table Tennis

11. This famous personality comments on a common bird thus: "All my life I have painted crows. Singly, in pairs, threesomes, whole murders of them. Even as a child I had been fascinated by them. They are smart, lively and have a strong survival instinct. The common crow is really an uncommon bird." Who?
- R.K. Laxman

12. Patients suffering from a rupture of the biceps tendon may develop a bulge in their arm. This is the retracted muscle bunched up in the arm, and is sometimes referred to as a _______ Muscle in medical circles because the muscle is more pronounced than normal. Fill in the blank.
- Popeye

13. Which sports personality was named by his/her parents after a Japanese steak they saw on a restaurant menu?
- Kobe Bryant (1/2 for kobe if someone else answers)

14. Which Indian actor, born in 1950, who has not acted in any mov ies in his mother tongue, made his debut in the 1975 Kannada movie Katha Sangama by Puttanna Kanagal?
- Rajinikanth, Marathi

15. In every scene where there is a clock the time is 4:20 which is a code for drugs in america
- Pulp Fiction

16. Camels are believed to be the animals that can go longest without water, but this fact is not true. Name the actual animal that can?
- A giraffe

17. Back in the mid to late 1980's, an IBM-compatible computer wasn't considered a hundred percent compatible unless it could run this particular application on it. Name the application
- Microsoft's Flight Simulator.

18. Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as this criteria is met. What?
- both parties MUST be registered blood donors.

19. This always comes out at sunset and February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have seen one. it also happens every 29 1/2 days. what am i talking about?
- a full moon

20. Jerry Seinfeld, the main creator of the hugely popular TV series "Seinfeld" is obssessed with this charater and in over 80% episode of "Seinfeld" this character appears or is refered somewhere. Name the character!!
- Superman.

21. What's common between Steve Jobs (partner), Jon Lennon, Gwneth Paltrow
- Apple

22. Tim Patterson who worked as a computer technician in Seattle after having graduated 'magna cum laude' was better known for what?
- Original inventor of DOS (QDOS or 86-DOS, extra points)

23. The Norwegian, Jon Lech Johansen who moved to the United States and worked as a software engineer in October 2005 until November 2006, and has now moved back to Norway for reasons that remain a mystery. What is he popular for, or what is he popular as?
- DVD Jon, Breaking DVD encryption

24. What's common between Wolfgang von Kempelen, Charles Hooper and Charles Gumpel chess playing computers or machines?
- They were both fakes with men hidden inside these machines who did the actual playing ;)

25. This phone weighed 40 kg's and was first released in Sweden in 1956, the subsequent version of this phone only weighed 9 kg's. What was so Special about this phone?
- it was the first cell phone that didn't require any manual control.

26. The first one of these opened in Damascus in 1530 followed by Cairo and Istanbul. The first of these to open in England was in Oxford and one sprang up two years later in London in Cornhill. Charles II later tried to suppress the London ones as "places where the disaffected met, and spread scandalous reports concerning the conduct of His Majesty and his Ministers", the public flocked to them. What am I talking about?
- Coffeehouses

27. what's the name of the wife of Dr. Manmohan Singh
- Mrs. Gursharan Kaur

28. What variety of mangoes are used in frooty
- Totapuri

29. Which American CEO was often referred to as `The CEO who wasn't there?' which then later led to some major laws being passed.
- Jeff Skilling, former CEO of Enron, ( + 1/2 ) for claiming that he wasn't aware of the happening during Enron's troubled times.

30.

Written
identify them
1. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Abdullah_G%C3%BCl_%28Bras%C3%ADlia%2C_19.1.2005%29.jpeg
- Abdullah, Turkish

2. http://www.hinduonnet.com/gallery/0372/037202.jpg
- Mrs. Gursharan Kaur

3. http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0cvHgcn8oUb9d/340x.jpg
- Bush

Charades

1. Rang de basanti
2. google.com
3. screw it, lets do it
4. Sherlock Holmes
5. karamchand
6. The Red Carpet: Bangalore Stories
7. Breakfast at Tiffany's
8. Bhagam Bhag
9. yahoo.com
10. my fair lady

irritated with the world!

2007-06-28T07:56:00.000-07:00

today i'm just plain irritated with a lot of things. first i was supposed to go out and that didn't happen because of a really silly reason. then my car bill came to a ridiculous Rs. 9000 after an estimate of 3K. Then some stupid guy caused me to loose my temper on the road.
the good thing about that is, i've not decided to use the comany cab atleast 3 times a week to go to work and now i'm sitting at home eating good food. silver lining i guess but that doesn't change the fact i'm irritated with this world today.

thinking

2007-05-29T19:28:00.001-07:00

thinking
Originally uploaded by krish_sid

after a lot of thinking i've come up with this picture. its what happens when you're unable to sleep for days. you get a whole new perspective on life :)
the camera's new and i'm still using a rather crappy lens but that should change soon and then i can really open her up to some nicer pictures.
tell me what you think about my self portrait.

smile

2007-05-29T13:36:00.000-07:00

i met a girl who sang the blues
and i asked her for some happy news
but she just smiled and turned away

kind of describes what i'm felling righ now :(

i need sleep

2007-05-25T17:34:00.000-07:00

someone please tell me how to sleep. it seems i've forgotten how to.
i'm on my third night now without any sleep and what have i been doing with all that extra time? well look at the picture on my profile? that's what. call it a self portrait or art.
Oh! besides that i'm creating sequence diagrams for my new project. more on that on my other techie blog. will leave the readers of this the misery or going thru that.

our hotel room

2006-08-30T10:34:00.000-07:00

here's where we decided to stay when we were in Pondicherry! J??? i'm sure you are. check this out.

The Dune

Sleepy Sadhu

2006-08-30T10:30:00.000-07:00

Was in pondicherry a while back and saw this sadhu sleeping! couldn't resist taking a picture.

for those who haven't been there. you're missing something. Plz go now.

"It is a former French colony. It consists of four non-contiguous districts or enclaves and is named for the largest, Pondicherry.
The territory is currently undergoing a name change to the original name of the city, Puduchery meaning "new village" in the official Tamil language. The French spelled it "Poudichéry", which is the closest French approximation to the Tamil pronunciation. At some point, the hand-written 'u' was mistaken for an 'n', and the misspelling stuck." - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pondicherry

playlist

2006-07-17T01:11:00.000-07:00

She made me a playlist :)

1. lucy in the sky with diamonds.
2. Iris
3. I'm too sexy...

Tx I absolutely love it....

ebooks @ iPod

2006-06-15T00:30:00.000-07:00

So you've done it too. Bought a shiny new iPod that's really good at playing the music that you've copied from various sources (your CD's and tapes is what I'm talking about :) and if you've got the 5th gen then the slick videos that it plays. But you wonder, wouldn't it be great if I could use it as an ebook reader?

well you can and here are some ways to do just that.

1. Notes yes apple provides a way to use notes on your ipod. What you need to do is simple. If you've got a MAC then just copy the text you want read on your iPod and use the scripts that apple provide (http://www.apple.com/applescript/ipod/).

2. web based ebook creator just upload the .txt file to this site and unzip the file that it gives you in the Notes folder of your iPod.

3. iPodLibrary is an easy to use for windows. It can convert html, txt, lit or pdf's to the ipod's not format and upload it to your ipod.

linux ipod

2006-04-19T22:56:00.000-07:00

so i've finally done it.
i've installed linux on my 5g ipod and its amazing. the first thing that comes to people's head is, WHY?
well a few reasons
1. i'm writing my own programs that can be put on my ipod now.
2. i can play wma and divx files
3. i'm trying to connect a keyboard to it so i could use it as a mini computer.
4. because its there. its Linux and linux should be running on every chip on this planet. (not that i've got anything against windows or mac, i use all three)

so i've now got an ipod running linux :) for those interested its a mac formatted linux.

2006-03-14T07:13:00.000-08:00

Some people, some of my friends think i live a rather happening life and want to know what i do and what goes on in the spare time that i'm not in the office.

So then, what really do i do?

Let me tell you what i don't to begin with. I hate being dragged out of bed, i hate having to wear a shirt and black pants. i'd rather be in my shorts with a loose t-shirt, a robe and a glass of cooool tea (with crushed mint) all the time. I definitely don't like having to drive through the roads of bangalore.
I'd love it if someone picked me up or i rode my cycle to work to begin with. I'd go back and get to my mohito or wine and a large pizza with lots of cheeze. sit with my friends and watch a movie on a big TV. play a game of carrom or dum charades. every few days i'd want to get out of town and go to a jungle and camp there or go to the beach and make out with the pretty girl i'm dating.

Every now and then i'd like to have debate on the nuclear policy, the crazy state of schools and the dressing sense of "todays youth" (btw. i'm all for it).

I also wish i could complete this but a little later i guess! will post again with more of this.

kick back and relax

2006-02-05T20:23:00.000-08:00

so a couple of days back (saturday night) we (rohini and i) were the little elves having made up two rounds in a quiz that were then rendered into one long round. overall it went off well with the exception that our team got left behind in the rounds that we had created. I guess we need to learn the fine art of biased quizzing :D
after that we ended up going to goti's place were we listened to some music while thinking of seeing a movie, but the movie never happened and we slept at about 4:30AM only to get up around 10. after flirting with the idea of going for brunch we finally got out of the house at 3 after eating some maggie.
we went to this place called Cafe Frisco (i think) that was just wonderful and i really need to go there sometime again.
to finish of a perfect sunday we went to Java City to listen to the band play some wonderful Jazz music. and for all those of you that didn't come. you guys missed some really really good music.

Challenge everything

2006-01-30T01:36:00.000-08:00

As some of you'll notice that's the line from the very popular EA sport games. Today I'm at a place where I need to decide one of two things

1. Stand back and accept what's happening.
2. Challenge what's happening and do something about it.

what am I going to do? They tell me I should be a man and accept what's happening. Its ok, it'll be ok. I know that, I truly believe that like in the world, in our lives too the heat passes from passes from the hot to the cold place till everything is balanced out. Everything is always ok.
But wait! If everything is always ok or will get ok then won't we humans, with our ability, no our need to bring chaos to our surroundings die of boredom?
should I try and insulate the heat to keep the ice from melting or should I let the laws of the world act as they should?

home

2006-01-16T04:23:00.000-08:00

i didn't think that i'd be posting any poems here, but then... well. i'll write at a later date why i'm writing this, till then here's it.

the beautiful red linen covered the walls
below me was the cuision softer than .....
i looked up and i could see the sky
with all its glory, the birds and their stories
huh! their stories, that can't be right
i'm just imagining, maybe because of the night
i continue looking and i can see my beautiful dress
wow, i wonder i've never had such great tress

then little by little it started getting warm,
but i couldn't get my mind off those beautiful walls
i tried to think where i was, i remember i had an appointment
with Dr. Paul

why doesn't someone turn down the heat, that's when i notice
she's standing next to me.
did i mention she's the most beautiful angel,
my love, my darling little girl, dady's little angel
why're you crying, don't cry my dear girl
i want to say, but i can't seem to find the words

the heat is so high, the walls now seem to burn,
before i realize it,
what's burning below me are the coffin walls

beach parties, booze and love

2005-11-13T05:26:00.000-08:00

came back from a beach party that was best described as a walk down memory lane. loads of alcohol let to the steering of some rather unwanted memories for a lot of people and the bon-fire added to the flame.
One girl in particular who'd broken up with her boyfriend just a while back completely lost it on seeing him there. can't blame either of them, little kids in love is such a pleasure to watch.
There was so much booze flowing and it all started with a couple of straight up's. so in the first 5 minutes everyone, everyone was high.
I, yeah I too though about my ex's a bit but that wasn't going to stop me from enjoying the night, the sound of the beautiful waves and the sea breeze blowing over the bon-fire.
memories are great, parties greater but just remember. Have your drinks shaken not stirred.

Civil Unrest, War, Terror!!!

2005-11-02T10:02:00.000-08:00

Delhi
65 Killed, read that again!
65 Killed...
over 200 injured

everyday, we have people in our country being killed by terrorists. dying soldiers, innocent people of Jammu and Kashmir getting killed because we want to politically correct.
every month we have people in one state or the other being killed in the name of religion, in the name of freedom. let me ask you this. if people are getting killed, are we free?
every year we have a major bomb blast in some part of our country and its a disgrace that we've done close to nothing to stop it.

50 people were killed and about a 100 injured in London on July 7 and they shook the whole world to find those who're responsible. we must do the same, forget about being politically correct. Was the US politically correct when they invaded Iraq? No, but they caught Saddam. We have to become tougher, not just out armies but our police our people, each and everyone of us. We as a society must extend help to our country in these times of war! yes this is war, if you think these numbers don't indicate war then I'll put up pictures of little children who died in the blast at Delhi! the childs body that isn't even recognizable.
We must stop this and not allow others to take over our land, we must all be "Paul Rusesabagina" from Rwanda during the struggle against the Hutu rebels. we must all harbor every person in need.
Help build a safer world for our generation, for our children! Stop this war.

Pangon Tsu

2005-10-24T02:03:00.000-07:00

Rain Rain!

2005-10-24T00:11:00.000-07:00

When the heavens open up most people are reminded of the one song they learnt while young.

Rain, rain, go away

Come again some other day

We want to go outside and play

Come again some other day

For the people in bangalore this weenend has been a rather wet one and makes one wonder what out govt. is doing. there's water on every road, the roads are all dug up with dangerously deep potholes & open manholes covered in water. To top it all off, everyones pointing figers at one another blaming the other for our state. Come on people, stop yapping and start working.
My take on the rain, I love it.

Mangoes

2005-10-20T03:32:00.000-07:00

I HATE THEM.... can anyone tell me why?

the new job!

2005-10-20T01:29:00.000-07:00

I know that its coming a little late but then again, u know the saying. well my last post was the .net workshop @ my last company. this post comes to you from my new one.
I started working here in April and so far I love the place. everyone seems really nice and great fun to talk to (check out heebeedirt.blogspot.com).
In the meantime I went to Leh and all i can say is that the place is better then the heaven i imagined. i'll scan the pictures sometime this weekend and upload them onto my website.

the .net workshop!

2005-06-14T03:54:00.000-07:00

that's where i'm sitting now! sitting, sleeping that's your guess! GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!