This is for those who have been too busy or stuck in your lab or with your job or in your classes and hence has been unable to keep in touch with the world of Formula 1. Don’t get me wrong, I was stuck in my lab as well, but while I was there pretty much all I have been doing is keeping in touch with F1. So here is a quick update on the points status as of now. After the Japanese Grand Prix, with just 3 races left to go in the season, Mark Webber leads the driver’s standings with 220 points from Fernando Alonso and Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel, both on 206. The McLaren duo of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button are a little further back on 192 and 189 points respectively. Red Bull leads in the constructor’s standings with 426 points to McLaren’s 381 and Ferrari’s 334 points. Point allocation has been modified for 2010 with top 10 positions rewarded points. Race win grants 25 points, second 18, third 15 and so on.
Red Bull had the best car in the paddock in the second half of last season, yet failed to clinch either of the titles thanks to the early season domination by Button-Brawn combination, which won 7 of the first 8 races, thanks to their innovative double diffuser. Come 2010, they dominated the practice and qualifying sessions in the first 3-4 race weekends, yet frustratingly failed to convert it to points on Sunday. McLarens brought the innovative F-duct into F1, a device which allows drivers to alter the airflow over the rear wing so as to reduce drag and downforce helping them hit higher speeds on the straights and yet have grip in the corners. Ferrari won the season opener in Bahrain with Alonso leading the Ferrari 1-2. The Spaniard winning his first ever race with Ferrari much like his predecessor Kimi Raikkonen. Yet Ferrari was not good enough to challenge for victories throughout the first half of the season. So first half of the season, Red Bull dominated in tracks demanding high downforce and aerodynamic efficiency while McLaren took over in high speed low downforce circuits. Jenson Button played his cards well to pick up two victories in the rain.
Mid season, Ferrari introduced their own version of the F-duct making them much more competitive. From then on it’s been a fight between the three teams for the top places and race wins. The Season was nicely poised with all three of the leading cars exhibiting different characteristics. Red Bull – brilliant aerodynamic grip making them unassailable through fast flowing corners and in high downforce circuits, but their engine lacked some high end punch making them susceptible down long straights. McLaren - F-Ducts and a powerful engine gave them the advantage down the straights but lacked aero grip to match the Red Bulls. Ferrari – their F-ducts and engine power made them faster than the Red Bulls in their weak area and their aero grip advantage made them quicker than McLarens likewise. So it was all down to the tracks, with different mix of corners and straights favouring different cars every race weekend.
2010 has not been without its fair share of controversies. In the German Grand Prix, Ferrari resorted to team orders and made Massa, who was pretty much out of the running in the driver’s title race by then, move over and give Alonso the win, so that they could keep the championship hopes of Alonso alive. Team orders had been banned 4 or 5 years back so the team was immediately slapped with the highest possible monetary fine and referred to FIA for further action. No further action was taken. In the Turkish Grand Prix, the increasing tension in the Red Bull garage spilled onto the track when Vettel, who was running second at that time tried to pull an unnecessarily aggressive move on Webber, who was leading, resulting in both the cars going off the track. Webber recovered to finish the race in 3rd but Vettel’s race was over. Both drivers proceeded to blame the other for the accident after the race. With the prospect of going home empty handed even after having the best car in the paddock, for the second consecutive season looming large, Christian Horner called up a meeting in his house and assured both the drivers that both will be given equal treatment by the team but they had to act responsibly on the track. At Silverstone, Red Bull arrived with two new front wings. Vettel ended up damaging his during practice and Webber was asked to sacrifice his new wing as there were no spares available and Vettel was ahead in points at that time. Red Bull scored a 1-2 in qualifying with Vettel on pole. Webber got the jump on Vettel into the first corner and led from there to win the race while Vettel struggled home in 7th place, after going off the track. After the race, Webber gave vent to his feelings over the in-car radio when he said, “not bad for a no:2 driver”. After that it has been pretty much equal status at Red Bull.
Alonso rekindled his title hopes with back to back victories at Monza and Singapore followed by a podium at Japan, while Vettel was upto his early season habit of outpacing his teammate as he won convincingly in Japan. Hamilton has endured a wretched run of late. After winning in Spa, he did not finish in either Monza or Singapore followed by fifth place in Japan thanks to a gearbox which was not engaging third gear. McLaren just hasn’t had the pace to win in any of the three races as reflected by Button’s showing. With just 3 races left, everyone seems eager to write off the McLarens and think of it as a three pony race for the driver’s title. When I look forward, of the 3 remaining tracks, 2 are right up McLaren’s alley with Abu Dhabi and Korea both sporting 2 long straights where top end speed could prove critical. Kubica, in the F-ducted Renault, which performs surprisingly well (in his hands) in such venues could prove to be a fly in the ointment for the top 5 if he manages to steal valuable points. With the winner getting 7 points more than second placed man and 3 races left to go, Webber knows that if Red Bull does dominate with 1-2s at all the races, he has to beat his teammate if he is to win the title. Add to it the fact that Alonso has no fresh engines left, having used up his allocation of 8 units for the season. Using a new unit will set him back by 10 positions from his qualifying position or a blown engine in the race could prove fatal to his title chances, and he will be desperate for some support from Massa who seems to be stuck in switch off mode. So I reckon it’s far from over. Eagerly looking forward to the last 3 races as the season heads to a nail biting finish. Will Red Bull finally be able to get a deserved title with either the experience of Webber or raw pace of Vettel? Will McLaren pull off a phoenix act and rise from the dead in fiery splendour to capture the title through either reigning Champion Button or the champion he deposed, Hamilton? Or will Alonso do a Kimi, winning the title on his first year with The Prancing Horse?
Hi guys, its been a long time huh? Of late i ve thought more than once about about scribbling something and posting it here but everytime something comes up (more commonly known as laziness). Finally having found the mental strength (albeit temporarily) to overcome that slayer of creative and non creative output, i thought i d share with my friends my views on "World Peace and its current state". Ya rite, dream on... I thought i d write somethin about whatever i ve been doin lately, so the people who were looking forward to an unbiased discussion on international matters pls wait till my next post, which according to my usual pattern should be anytime in 2011-12. Well as some of u guys know and many of you don’t i was home for the whole month of May and have been back here in IIT M since June first week. Mr. Vishnu Suresh, FYI: yes i study in IITM and oh yes its in Chennai aka Madras.
First week it was all movies, FRIENDS and NUMBERS, movies and even more Friends but from the second week on iv e been workin on my project from morning 10 to evening 7 everyday except for weekends of course. Find that hard to believe? Even i do, but that doesn’t mean it aint true... For those of you whom i haven’t bored yet with details of my main proj, its got something to do with stabilization of an inverted pendulum. For the common folk, remember Segway? Else look it up in wiki. So that has been taking up a lot of my time lately but being the fighter that i am, i hit back watchin movies at night and during the weekends i’ll be on a spree but the work has effectively stopped me from takin up a new book since im not the sort of guy that enjoys reading a book 20 pages at a time. In the morning, at the crack of dawn (if that is around 6:30, pardon me guys for another aside Johnny, FYI: Yes the sun rises around that time and people do wake up at that unearthly hour...) i wake up and hit the gym. Oh how i wish i could see those raised eyebrows and smirks right now. Anyways anyone who has known me long enough would know that getting me started on something is the real difficult part. Once i get going i’m a tour de force, unstoppable.... (except of course by the slayer mentioned earlier and sleep). Yes i’m pumping iron and do i have the results to show for it? Guys its been just 2 weeks it takes longer than that to see results (fingers crossed).
Now lets run thorugh some of the movies i’ve seen recently,
· Iron man 2 - 7.5, definitely worth a watch but not up to the mark set by the first.
· Percy Jackson - 6.5, a mix of Harry Potter, Greek mythology and what not.
· Pappy Appachaa – 7, usual dileep fare worth a few laughs.
· Lives of others - 8.5, definitely recommended, strong movie.
· Deja Vu – 8, good.
· Collateral - 7.5, again good.
· GI Joe - 7.5, i actually enjoyed this one, some nice action and loads of eye candy esp in HD.
· Batman Begins – 9, gr8 movie. Love it everytime.
· Green Zone – 8, definitely worth a watch. Good one.
· Man from Earth – 9, Gemo, thanks for the recommend given 1 yr back. Gr8 movie definitely recommended. Two thumbs up.
· 500 days of Summer – 8, warning: this is not a love story but definitely a good movie.
· Shakespeare MA Malayalam – 7, overall good even though somewhat over the top at times.
· Prince of Persia - 7.5, saw it in Sathyam theatre in Chennai. Defintely worth a watch. Entertainment value + Eye candy.
· The green mile - 8.5, Beatiful Movie... but 3 hrs long. else it wud have got a 9.
· Kill Bill – 9,VENGEANCE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD. And with style. How often do you hear the words beautiful and violence used in the same sentence and how often as beautiful violence? Those who have seen the movie will understand, those who have not, pls watch it ASAP. Tarantino is a genius. Direction is slick and stylish, the background score is brilliant and the action bloody good. WARNING: Not fot he weak hearted.
· Die Hard 2 – 8, get some popcorn, lay back and enjoy.
· Die Hard 3- 8.5, same here, but even better. Die hard = gr8 action.
· Kill Bill 2 – 9, Finally the bride gets a name and its time to kill bill. Its an eye for an eye world out there. BTW for those of you who could nt get enough of this, Kill Bill 3 slated for 2014. J
· I.G - 6.5, craving to see a Malayalam movie takes me to places i’d rather not be. Suresh Gopi starrer. Enough said.
· Law abiding citizen - 7.5, A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. Thats Gerard Butler. Good movie promises to be very good but felt it kinda lost direction a bit in the second half.
· Man on fire – 8, Pretty good. Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning, the chemistry between them is real good.
Now over to the food front. Apart from the continuing KFC addiction, occasional pizza and a return to Kumarakom in the esteemed presence of Mr. Ajithnath aka Ulakan, we found time to check out two new restaurants.
The Rock, velachery. Gr8 sizzlers and nice desserts.
Tasty Jones : I m goin to stick my neck out here. This place served the best burgers i ve ever had. Yes better than McD. Maybe i am biased cos i prefer beef burgers to chicken ones and McD doesn’t cater beef burgers in India, but anyway these burgers were real juicy and simply the best i ve had. Yet. And i ve my eyes set on their steak offerings. So those of you guys in Chennai for whatever reason have some time to spare, visit Elliot’s beach, Besant Nagar, the very place where Dasan and Vijayan arrive in gulf in an Uru headed for California, only to realise its just Madras. The landmark near which they carry out their “transaction” is still there and readily identifiable. Then drop in at Tasty Jones for the best burger in town.
And guys, missing you all... I really miss the hangings outs we used to have at panchaara kaadu, museum, our club house, anywhere we had enough space to sit together and chat away to say nothing of the night outs. Hope you’re all having a gr8 time. Stay in touch. (Some guys think sending tennis scores and commentary is stayin in touch. Dude, i don’t think so...).
Once every year during the hot wintry month of December in Kerala comes the visual treat of movie splendor - IFFK. I chanced upon being part of the fest only twice, but both times it gave me immense pleasure to see the world through the movies.
Being back in hometown only for a brief period and spending the first few days in cinema halls, it almost became a fashion asking me the question- have you come home to watch movies. But if those asking the question had gone for the fest, they would've known why. The film fest took my breath away the first time and didn't disappoint this time too. I got to see just 10 movies this time around, due to various reasons. So I'm not in a position to make any authoritative appreciation/criticism about the fest. But who cares I'm blogging. Now START CAMERA ACTION...
The movies I liked the most were My Secret Sky, Broken Embraces and Rithu. MySecret Sky talks about the life of two children in the farms of Africa after their mother dies. How they come to town to fulfill their mother's dream of entering a hand-crafted mat in a competition. The movie had all the elements - a serious theme, moments of joy, beautiful shots etc.. The spanish master Almodovar is back this year with Broken Embraces. The movie has complicated relationships akin to the directors style. And the whole mesh of relations unravel amongst awesome camera-work. Watching the movie in first row of the theatre, the areal scene in which the camera zooms in onto a car driving in a deserted highway - unforgettable.
Rithu is the latest offering by renowned malayalam film director - Shyamaprasad. The movie tells the story about 3 friends in the current generation mallu youth. Although the movie might not have garnered as much critical acclaim as the directors previous movies, I hold it close to my heart cuz I'm part of that group and could connect with the movie so easily. Some readers might've noticed that I borrowed the title of previous blog from tag line of Rithu. Another movie which I felt is very good is About Elly. The movie captured the tension of characters during a catastrophic incident very realistically.
One thing different from the previous IFFK was that this time we went for desi films too, instead of the all phorein policy. That was a revelation in itself. Watching Thaniyavarthanam and Dev D felt as good as watching movies from abroad. But somehow we failed to catch the French New Wave. The two movies in that category that we saw - Cleo from 5 to 7 and Pierrot goes wild felt pretty ordinary. Cleo had it's good moments, but the comedy in Pierrot was completely beyond us. Looking for Eric is an ok movie, the best parts being replay of goals being scored by Cantona. I'm still confused about the ending of Divine. If someone watches it, please explain.
Overall, the film festival was a very satisfying event. Last time the mix of movies were better cuz we got to see more movies which were purely entertaining. Maybe we got our selection of films to watch a li'l wrong. But that doesn't take anything away from how much we liked it. And would love to watch many more films... next December. CUT!
People find it hard to believe that Windows wasn't the first Operating system with complete graphical user interface. But I do, because I'd seen one before Windows existed. My vague memory says it had an X shaped mouse pointer.
Why bother typing in a terminal when the same can be done with a mouse click? This is the question encountered by the crowd when they are up against any linux distribution. Mark my word, the current distros can do more than 'the same' by the click of a mouse. The customisations possible in linux is limitless. You'll just have to search for the right software. There's the difference - you can either choose to be spoon fed or search for a better alternative.
The above paragraph may sound like me being an open source fan. I do not deny to be one, but still use XP and do agree that I find it easier to use than linux. Then why support open software? Because I believe linux is the way forward. It's past time that we ditch the policy of stringent software licensing except in the case of custom made commercial/business softwares. I feel PC users should have the freedom to utilise their computer in the best possible way.
My experiences in past few days had been kind of a revelation. I had installed Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) in dual-boot with XP. Few months ago, I reinstalled XP and grub (bootloader) was lost. I din't give much thought to recovering Ubuntu and had been using XP only since. Recently I started following the progress of next version of Ubuntu - 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex). I had to have it. Then I remembered that I still had not formatted the linux drives. Was there any way to recover it? I searched the net and voila - the fix was simple. Just three terminal commands later, the grub was back up and running. That's when I realised the power of terminal and wish there was something similar in Windows (Windows command prompt is nowhere close). I bet most of us would have had to reinstall the OS if it was Windows. I've done it more than once and lost all files in C:\.
All was going well right until I got the Xubuntu-8.10 CD in my hands. I tried upgrading directly, but i guess direct upgrading from Ubuntu 8.04 to Xubuntu 8.10 is not supported. I cudn't give up and started installing the OS part by part from CD (another thing I dont think Windows installer can do). Slowly my desktop changed from Gnome (Ubuntu's Desktop Environment) to the lightweight XfCe (Xubuntu's Desktop Environment). To the untrained eye this might look like changing Operating Systems but actually it's just something on the outside, the kernel remains Linux. But finally I went one step too much. I'm not sure what happened and I ended up fixing what wasn't broken - with GUI not loading. Tried out a few solutions I got from net, but nothing worked. So..
I did a clean installation of Xubuntu this time around. You expect a happy ending? Sorry my system's still broken.:-) But I know the solution's out there somewhere and the knowledge that I can do it myself without being a pirate gives me the inspiration to try again. The real joy in using linux comes from the fact that you actually get a feeling of being closer to YOUR PC.
Update (13-11-08): I've managed to successfully break and make (using linux live CD) the system for the past 4 days. I've virtually become an expert in system recovery without data loss..
Suggested softwares for system recovery: In Linux OS: 1. testdisk - very powerful, i was able to backup everything before fixing the boot sector, the mbr and checking the disk for errors. 2. ms-sys: this software can be used to fix problems with XP (and many other OS) boot sector (mbr) and even write a new one. In Windows: there is a repair option in install CD. try fixmbr and chkdsk
Never lose hope and re-install the system if you have important data without giving a try at system recovery. There are numerous options out there..
Aston shell is a desktop enhancement software.i used it some years before. Just decided to try it again.
The software is available as trial version, just google for it.
I dont know whether it has any security issues or bugs. i haven't had a problem yet. so try it at your on risk.
its good to have the change from the ever-same windows xp. i have tried many themes in xp. but it all have the same look, bad colour combinations. with themes there is very little to alter. so i tried the aston software. its totally cool.
my desktop now looks like this
apart from the totally awesome looks...
- all your drives are listed in the left, including how much storage space is left - the pic of the computer on the top is "my computer" icon. When u pass ur mouse over it, it has a lovely animation - direct google search on the top. - softwares split into groups in the top - calander comes up when u move mouse over the time - if u move ur mouse to extreme right or left, a customizable menu comes up listing ur favourite software - i am writing the article in the option called quicknotes. type/paste in things u want to keep. it is automatically saved. - custumizable hotkeys. i have given 1 each for firefox, winamp and shutdown
the wallpaper you see isn't part of the software. I got it from a torrent "631 wallpapers 20-Pack Mortallity". each one of them top quality. One of the best wallpaper collections i have ever seen.
it doesnt eat too much of ram. 23MB max is what i have seen.
the only bad side i see is the full version costs a lot of money, adding new icons to the list is a little difficult.
edit: here are the screenshots as kk suggested. it is here
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This is for those who have been too busy or stuck in your lab or with your job or in your classes and hence has been unable to keep in touch with the world of Formula 1. Don’t get me wrong, I was stuck in my lab as well, but while I was there pretty much all I have been doing is keeping in touch with F1. So here is a quick update on the points status as of now. After the Japanese Grand Prix, with just 3 races left to go in the season, Mark Webber leads the driver’s standings with 220 points from Fernando Alonso and Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel, both on 206. The McLaren duo of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button are a little further back on 192 and 189 points respectively. Red Bull leads in the constructor’s standings with 426 points to McLaren’s 381 and Ferrari’s 334 points. Point allocation has been modified for 2010 with top 10 positions rewarded points. Race win grants 25 points, second 18, third 15 and so on.
Red Bull had the best car in the paddock in the second half of last season, yet failed to clinch either of the titles thanks to the early season domination by Button-Brawn combination, which won 7 of the first 8 races, thanks to their innovative double diffuser. Come 2010, they dominated the practice and qualifying sessions in the first 3-4 race weekends, yet frustratingly failed to convert it to points on Sunday. McLarens brought the innovative F-duct into F1, a device which allows drivers to alter the airflow over the rear wing so as to reduce drag and downforce helping them hit higher speeds on the straights and yet have grip in the corners. Ferrari won the season opener in Bahrain with Alonso leading the Ferrari 1-2. The Spaniard winning his first ever race with Ferrari much like his predecessor Kimi Raikkonen. Yet Ferrari was not good enough to challenge for victories throughout the first half of the season. So first half of the season, Red Bull dominated in tracks demanding high downforce and aerodynamic efficiency while McLaren took over in high speed low downforce circuits. Jenson Button played his cards well to pick up two victories in the rain. 
Mid season, Ferrari introduced their own version of the F-duct making them much more competitive. From then on it’s been a fight between the three teams for the top places and race wins. The Season was nicely poised with all three of the leading cars exhibiting different characteristics. Red Bull – brilliant aerodynamic grip making them unassailable through fast flowing corners and in high downforce circuits, but their engine lacked some high end punch making them susceptible down long straights. McLaren - F-Ducts and a powerful engine gave them the advantage down the straights but lacked aero grip to match the Red Bulls. Ferrari – their F-ducts and engine power made them faster than the Red Bulls in their weak area and their aero grip advantage made them quicker than McLarens likewise. So it was all down to the tracks, with different mix of corners and straights favouring different cars every race weekend. 
2010 has not been without its fair share of controversies. In the German Grand Prix, Ferrari resorted to team orders and made Massa, who was pretty much out of the running in the driver’s title race by then, move over and give Alonso the win, so that they could keep the championship hopes of Alonso alive. Team orders had been banned 4 or 5 years back so the team was immediately slapped with the highest possible monetary fine and referred to FIA for further action. No further action was taken. In the Turkish Grand Prix, the increasing tension in the Red Bull garage spilled onto the track when Vettel, who was running second at that time tried to pull an unnecessarily aggressive move on Webber, who was leading, resulting in both the cars going off the track. Webber recovered to finish the race in 3rd but Vettel’s race was over. Both drivers proceeded to blame the other for the accident after the race. With the prospect of going home empty handed even after having the best car in the paddock, for the second consecutive season looming large, Christian Horner called up a meeting in his house and assured both the drivers that both will be given equal treatment by the team but they had to act responsibly on the track. At Silverstone, Red Bull arrived with two new front wings. Vettel ended up damaging his during practice and Webber was asked to sacrifice his new wing as there were no spares available and Vettel was ahead in points at that time. Red Bull scored a 1-2 in qualifying with Vettel on pole. Webber got the jump on Vettel into the first corner and led from there to win the race while Vettel struggled home in 7th place, after going off the track. After the race, Webber gave vent to his feelings over the in-car radio when he said, “not bad for a no:2 driver”. After that it has been pretty much equal status at Red Bull.
Alonso rekindled his title hopes with back to back victories at Monza and Singapore followed by a podium at Japan, while Vettel was upto his early season habit of outpacing his teammate as he won convincingly in Japan. Hamilton has endured a wretched run of late. After winning in Spa, he did not finish in either Monza or Singapore followed by fifth place in Japan thanks to a gearbox which was not engaging third gear. McLaren just hasn’t had the pace to win in any of the three races as reflected by Button’s showing. With just 3 races left, everyone seems eager to write off the McLarens and think of it as a three pony race for the driver’s title. When I look forward, of the 3 remaining tracks, 2 are right up McLaren’s alley with Abu Dhabi and Korea both sporting 2 long straights where top end speed could prove critical. Kubica, in the F-ducted Renault, which performs surprisingly well (in his hands) in such venues could prove to be a fly in the ointment for the top 5 if he manages to steal valuable points. With the winner getting 7 points more than second placed man and 3 races left to go, Webber knows that if Red Bull does dominate with 1-2s at all the races, he has to beat his teammate if he is to win the title. Add to it the fact that Alonso has no fresh engines left, having used up his allocation of 8 units for the season. Using a new unit will set him back by 10 positions from his qualifying position or a blown engine in the race could prove fatal to his title chances, and he will be desperate for some support from Massa who seems to be stuck in switch off mode. So I reckon it’s far from over. Eagerly looking forward to the last 3 races as the season heads to a nail biting finish. Will Red Bull finally be able to get a deserved title with either the experience of Webber or raw pace of Vettel? Will McLaren pull off a phoenix act and rise from the dead in fiery splendour to capture the title through either reigning Champion Button or the champion he deposed, Hamilton? Or will Alonso do a Kimi, winning the title on his first year with The Prancing Horse? 
