The Grey Sith

Goodbye

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 02:41:00 +0000

I'm surprised to see that I've hit a hundred posts on Blogspot. Well, it's going to be 100 and out. I now blog here:

http://iamgreysith.wordpress.com

Hopefully you'll follow me to my new, less google-y home!

India vs WI

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 17:03:00 +0000

One thing heard, and another said

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 17:32:00 +0000

Smt. 420: is it just me, or all my notes rebelling against me?
i have seem to lost 2 of them..n i hate to find for stuff..:s
brb

me: I lose notes too
can't find the right one
and it's damn annoying

Smt. 420: got them ..phew...

me: damn you
I just get stuck
searching
till I hit the right one

Smt. 420: listen i lost my notebook last week..
i had all my notes proper for once...

me: I can't play the tunes that are in my head
my loss is bigger than yours

Smt. 420: everyone wanted copies of it n what not..
i had to photocopy someone elses book...depressing that was
one note book i managed to maintain n i lose it :P

me: lol
have you not noticed?
I have been punning all this time

Smt. 420: as in?

me: read everything I said about notes again

Smt. 420: oh my gawd...

PS: There will be more posts about the lore of Smt. 420. Later.

An Evening of Interest (a.k.a the randomest thing you'll read in a while)

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 02:26:00 +0000

Those of you who know me, know that I am a socially inept monument to awkwardness. I know this too. For the longest period, I have lived happily with the fact that the set of me, and the set of society, do not intersect. At all. I've been at peace.

Then recently, I decided that I should try to change this. I should go 'out of my comfort zone' and meet the world. During the period when I was thinking this, I happened to read a notice proclaiming 'Free Salsa Lesson' in the college bus. If you are of average intellect or above, you should know what happened next.

Common sense demands that someone born with approximately pi left feet should not attempt dances. And yet, philosophical me won this battle against logical me. I decided to attend this lesson. The turnout? Approximately the same number of guys and girls. Reassuringly, the guys looked as clumsy as I am. Worryingly, the girls didn't.

Round 1: the basic steps of Salsa
Paired up with a French girl
Considering how simple the basic steps of Salsa are, I would have to be an absolute cretin to do this wrong. Thankfully I didn't do this wrong.

Round 2: the first variations
Paired up with another French girl
This pairing was not so bad at all. We got along reasonably well, and the dancing wasn't a disaster.

Round 3: intermediate-1
Paired up with an American girl
Now this girl was very excited about the whole dance thing. We agreed on the sequence of steps we would do, and then we did them. This was exceptional (by my abysmal standards). Barely a foot wrong, and fairly smooth.

Round 4: intermediate-2
Paired up with another American girl
This girl was a legit trained dancer. Unlike the other American, she wouldn't agree on what steps to do. She kept telling me, 'In Salsa, the male must lead'. I kept telling her that I was a rank newbie, and that I couldn't spontaneously decide what to do. Result - pointless hand holding, and stepping forward and back for the length of the song.

Round 5: advanced
Paired up with the last of the three French girls
This pairing was an unmitigated disaster. Like the American before her, she insisted that I 'lead' the dance. I was failing so hard at this point trying to figure out which intermediate variations I wanted to 'lead' her into, that I was getting the basic footing wrong.

Poor women. Must've had the worst dance partner of their lives. Anyhow, I'd learnt something socially useful. It was time to head home. I stepped out of the student centre to be greeted by pouring rain. I stopped at the nearest bus stop. After five minutes, a girl unexpectedly plonks her bag next to me,
"Keep a watch on that till I get back"
"Uhm, okay."
Two minutes later, she returns,
"Hi! Some rain huh?"
"Yeah..."
We begin to make polite small talk. Then, out of the blue, she starts discussing the geography of ancient Mesopotamia, and how it was between the Tigris and Euphrates. I have no idea how I even kept up this discussion, but I did. Then suddenly,
"PLEASE DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE WAITING FOR THE BUS!"
"Uhm, yeah, I am..."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Buses don't come here after 6PM."
"Oh. I didn't know that. I guess I'll go to the bus stop on the opposite side of the campus then. Thanks, and b'bye!"
"Bye! Nice meeting you."

I walked in the rain to the next bus stop. In the bus stop, a grumpy man in a wheelchair stood beside a woman who I assumed was his wife. As I waited, an african-american (who I shall refer to hence forth as black, with zero negative connotations except the fact that it is shorter than african-american) joins us. The (white) guy in the wheelchair and the black man started arguing about something.

The bus arrived a few minutes later. The black man got into the bus. The lady followed. Then the grumpy man started telling the driver where he wanted to go. The driver (also black) politely told him that this bus would take approximately forever to take him where he wanted to go. The white guy started complaining about how he was a war veteran, and that that should stand for something. Bus driver didn't want to listen to him ranting, so he asked him to get on. At this point I realised that the white guy was very drunk, and the woman was not his wife.

Once in the bus, he sarcastically commented, 'It is so wonderful that this country has made such luxuries available to our guests.' (The bus was full of foreign students). He then continued to argue with the black man. He called the black guy over for a 'heart to heart' talk. Black guy retorted that he wasn't gay, and didn't want to sit next to him. After much argument, he finally agreed. Black guy wanted to avoid trouble, so he went and sat next to him, patted his shoulder, and said something to the effect of, 'Let it be man, why fight?'
But the white man wouldn't relent, "Don't touch me... I don't like being touched by your kind."
"Then why did you call me?"
"Because I like to talk to the darkness."

So, not only was he drunk, he was also a racist. He argued with the black guy for a bit, and then rudely said, "You're dismissed, go back to where you were."
The black guy went back. Now the white guy started telling the woman who I had thought to be his wife, about how great it was to be in the army. She was responding with an indifferent 'Uh-huh' to everything he said.

At this point, the bus driver was tired of his ranting, and said, "Sir, if you don't stop talking, I am going to call the police and have them drop you home."
"Thank you driver, that will not be necessary."
"That's what I thought."
"I would like to say one last thing."
There was a moment's silence, and in this silence, the white guy raised his hand, and shouted, "Give me liberty, or give me death!"

The bus driver absolutely lost it at this point. He stopped the bus, and got up to call the police. The white guy now started pleading about how he had asked for permission to say one last thing, and had not been denied by the bus driver. After much pleading, the driver calmed down, and continued to drive.

Realising that situation had now swung, the black guy started taunting the white guy, knowing that he wouldn't respond any more. Watching the white guy cursing under his breath and gesticulating was extremely funny. The bus driver was tired of their squabbling, and just kept driving. A few minutes later, the bus had arrived at my house, and so ended a memorable night in the USA.

Tipping my hat to David Caruso

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:12:00 +0000

(Joke was mine. Just thought of doing it with the Caruso Meme. Sorry)

An Idea of India

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 04:02:00 +0000

What is the meaning of India? What is the meaning of patriotism? We are taught in school to love our country, to be patriotic. That 'spirit' is instilled in all of us from a very young age. I don't recall a single person telling me what constitutes 'loving your country'. There are many viewpoints that I've come across, including,
-> Protecting the heritage and culture of the country is love for the country
-> Protecting the spread of foreign influences is love for the country
-> Shooting down (figuratively) people who criticise India is love for the country
-> Preserving local languages is love for the country
.
.
.

You get the drift. The problem is, I can't seem to agree with any of this. I don't really care for India's culture and heritage. I don't care so much for languages. I do argue with people who unnecessarily criticise the country, but I agree that this country is deeply flawed. I'm all for the spread of foreign influences. Do I hate India? I don't think so. I just can't figure out what it is about India that I love. There is so much cynicism everywhere. So much 'chalta hai'. So much 'it's somebody else's problem'. What do I love? I don't really know. I do know that it is a hopeless, unyielding love. But why?

I have no answers. Until I do, maybe I'll look at the lakhs of people who died for the idea of India. I don't know what their ideas were. But whatever they were, they were worth dying for. While I look for my own idea, maybe I'll manage with the fact there were once ideas worth dying for.

Messenger of the Gods

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Sat, 14 May 2011 15:58:00 +0000

I have seen Mercury, the messenger of the gods. (The faint dot forming a right angle with the two bright ones (which are Jupiter and Venus))

Click on photo to see the three planets together.

I has another fractal!

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Thu, 12 May 2011 04:49:00 +0000

A Barnsley fern, this time. It's not very obvious because of the complexity of the pattern, but it is indeed a fractal. You can just about begin to make out the self similarity in each of the fronds. Click on the image for a better view of the fractal nature of the fern.

That's a natural looking leaf. Generated through maths. How cool is that?

My first Fractal!

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Thu, 05 May 2011 07:18:00 +0000

A long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away), I wrote about fractals and chaos theory on my blog. That was here.

Years on, I finally learnt how to make a fractal myself. And here it is, my first fractal. It is what they call a Sierpinski Triangle.

*The author is now playing 'I'm so glad' by Cream in his head*

Quiztronomy is back!

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 18:43:00 +0000

Red? Yellow?

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:44:00 +0000

This is going to be a pretty small post - just a musing. Been working with photoshop a lot lately, and I've noticed something. The range of colours that lie between purples and cyans is defined as blue. The range of colours that lie between yellow and cyans are defined as green. Both of these ranges are fairly large. However, when it comes to Red, the range is very small. A little one way and you get pinks. A little the other way, and you get oranges. Same with Yellow - a very small range of colours is yellow. I'm talking only about these four colours because RBY are the three primary colours, and RGB is a popular method of colour representation.

Any ideas?

Lamenessness

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 07:34:00 +0000

[code in hypothetical language]

#define koi_humse 1
main(){
int i;
boolean bool;
for(i=0;i less than 13; i++){ printf("Mastana\n");
}
char mera[7]="Deewana";
if(bool==koi_humse)
 exit(1);
}

[end code]

[puts on cool sunglasses]

Loop tera, Mastana,

Char mera, Deewana,

Bool koi humse na ho jaaye!

Sorry. I really am.

Google gains sentience

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 12:16:00 +0000

Notes for the COAM External

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 14:18:00 +0000

Hi,
I doubt you'll read this, but it must be written. Here are some notes that should help the next time you take a viva:

1. Why don't people use Pentium 5, Pentium 6 etc?
Probably because they don't exist. That must be most of the reason.

2. Today's processors don't follow Moore's law.
Yes, they do. Your insistence that they don't does not change reality.

3. Dual core processors are the latest innovation - released 1-2 years ago.
No. There have been dual core processors at least since 2001.

4. Shrinking the manufacturing process increases total power consumption.
This is just stupid. It increases idle power consumption, not total.

5. Process shrinks are the only way to increase performance.
It's one way. There are many others.

6. Dual core processors exist because it's impossible to increase the clocks on a single core beyond a limit.
It can be done, refer Pentium 4. Dual cores exist because they're better at handling multitasking.

7. Pentium 4 dual core is the latest processor from Intel.
The only thing good about this is that you haven't seen Intel's garbage advertisements for the '2010 Core Processor Family'. You know what's bad? You don't read newspapers, or watch TV.

If you do read this, at least you will know that the world's changed since Ray-Bhurchandi was published. Just sayin'

Self help

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 18:26:00 +0000

I saddens me greatly that there are people in this world who have read self help books, or spiritual types of books, and not read The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Everyone knows that H2G2 has the biggest self help gyaan in the galaxy - 'Don't Panic' (in large, friendly letters, no less). What greater spiritual meaning can there be than 42, the answer to life, the universe and everything?

If you are a member of this group of people, please, please, remedy the situation by reading H2G2 as soon as possible. It's the best self help you could possibly get!

(Dis)Belief

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 07:41:00 +0000

The Ayodhya verdict has come, and I've finally been able to have a decent look at it. I like the fact that the court wants an amicable solution that does not hurt any particular religion. There is one thing that riles me - the fact that the HC seems to have implicitly accepted (if not declared) that the Babri Masjid dome was the birthplace of Ram.

Too many questions come to mind here. But basically, how can anyone prove beyond doubt that Ram was born at that exact location? Does some scripture mention exact geographic co-ordinates? Just because people believe something doesn't mean it's true. If that's how the judgement is going to work, let me stake a claim too.

I claim, nay, I believe that the Flying Spaghetti Monster was born at the exact same location that is the claimed birthplace of Ram. Further, my scriptures say that FSM was born there before Ram. That is where his noodly appendage first touched man. I therefore stake claim to the disputed land.

The land must be handed over to the Church of Pastafarianism and we must be allowed to build a monument (probably spaghetti and meatballs) to FSM. According to the HC, this belief is all I need to 'prove' that FSM was indeed born there. I have not furnished a shred of evidence (because FSM was born thousands of years ago, before Ram), but my claim is as valid as the claim for a Temple there. Ridiculous.

There is documented proof of a Mosque there. There is specious evidence (?), if any, of a temple or of anyone being born there. So lets go by the evidence - build a Mosque there. Build a temple adjacent to it. And lets live peacefully ever after, not letting idiot politicians divide us again.

All wrong!

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 15:40:00 +0000

I was searching google for the term 'books'. Google's collection of Related Searches includes 'Twilight books'.

This is wrong! Books and twilight are not related, except by the loosest definition of the word book.

Owned!

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 05:41:00 +0000

Cutting sarcasm is a way of life. Circuitous speech is the only way I can talk any more. It's almost like I've forgotten how to talk 'normally'. The only rule is that if you're going dish it out, you should also be willing to take it in spirit.

I'm sitting in the car with my mum, she's driving. It's drizzling, and a film of mist begins to develop on the windscreen. She turns on the air conditioner to get rid of that mist. A few minutes later, the mist begins to develop again.

Me: You should turn up the AC, that should fix it.
Mum: The mist is on the outside, not the inside.
Me: Yeah, right. Just turn up the AC, you'll see.
Mum:

Then she flicks the wiper switch, and the mist gets cleaned up in one swipe of the wiper blades.

Now I'm silenced. Well play, mum!

It must be true...

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 10:51:00 +0000

if Einstein says so...

Procreation

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 08:32:00 +0000

This is a response to this blog post:
Existence
Please give that a read before you continue reading this.

(No, seriously!)

Now that you've read it, a little recap - Abhishek asks why people want to have children. I present my response to this question:

1. Because: They like children
Individual choice stands for a lot, and people like many things that make no sense to other people. There will also be people who must be in a relationship. Others will find that confounding. People want to have children, so they will.

2. Because: The BPL argument
A history teacher once put forward this argument to explain why you tend to see really poor people have large families. Poor people think that raising more children means there will be more people to support the family, and themselves. The said teacher had also, quite rightly pointed out - if there must be x number of children born every day, let them be born into a family that can support the children. The BPL argument is inherently flawed, but it is true.

3. Because: Cogito Ergo Sum
Man thinks, therefore he is. I like to believe that one of the most fundamental needs of the human race is the desire to gain knowledge. Knowledge comes from new ideas. New ideas cannot come about from an ageing, dying race of people. New ideas need new people - a new generation.

4. Because: Legacy
Another fundamental desire of the human race is to leave behind a legacy. Everyone wants to die knowing that someone, somewhere will remember them. For great luminaries of any generation, this is easy - their acts leave behind a legacy that will remind future generations of them. An ordinary person (by virtue of being ordinary) does not have access to this sort of legacy. Procreation is another way of being remembered. Your children will remember you. It's not as great a legacy as that left behind by a great scientist, but it's better than none.

5. Because: Anarchy
One of the reasons that the world at least attempts to control its excesses is so that something maybe left behind for the future generations. If the whole world were to go completely, and irreversibly sterile - it would be worse for the planet than it is now. Today you try to minimise using a fuel guzzling SUV because you want to limit the harm you cause to the planet. If there is no future, you might as well trash the planet as you go. And make no mistake - that is exactly what will happen. 2000 years of (recent) history point out that humanity is not a race well suited to compromise and agreement.

6. Because: It makes no difference if Humanity dies out
If the human race dies out, you only buy the planet a few million years. It's a seemingly long time, but not very long when compared to the age of the earth. A new dominant species will rise, and will eventually behave the same as we do now.

7. Because: Natural Selection
Natural selection is the reason why we're all here today. Natural selection exists on simple principles - the race must go one, and only the best of the race must go on. Consider a situation where the six billion people of the world have agreed to not reproduce. There will be people who will circumvent this agreement- let us say 2 million people, giving birth to a million babies. You can act all hurt about these people breaking the pact, but it will actually be Natural Selection acting in its best interests- the genes of those unfit to carry on the race, the 5.998 billion who abstained, are eliminated from the gene pool. The remaining million face possibly the best quality of life in modern history.

Finally - Abhishek says, "We exist, therefore, we protect existence." This is not a unique thought. It's just a rewording of natural selection. Every species exists to protect its own existence. There is nothing special about humans in this respect - it is a part of the instinct that every animal shares.

Those are some reasons for people to have babies. I don't agree with all of them, just some of them.

But Why?

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:19:00 +0000

Pakistani cricketers leave me confused. They are, on natural talent, probably the best team in the world. And yet, their cricketers indulge in some of the most brainless behaviour you can ever see. Take Shoaib Akhtar. A brilliant natural talent, a sight to see when on form, and yet he had to go take performance enhancing drugs. Ditto Mohammad Asif. Easily one of the best pace bowlers in the world right now, and he goes and takes drugs. I don't get it. What is it that these people are trying to improve? Their speed? Swing? What exactly is the point!?
I can understand if someone mediocre like Munaf Patel decides to take performance enhancing drugs (and he hasn't, I hope). What is the justification for taking illegal drugs when you're already SO DAMN GOOD!?

And that brings me to Mohammad Amir. All of 17. Already heralded as the next great pace bowler. And then you see him indulging in spot fixing. Again, why? It's not like he is (was?) a struggling nobody who couldn't be sure of his place on the team. He was probably the first automatic selection before every match. Why risk all that for some money?

I find it very perplexing. I feel sad that the match I thought was such a brilliant marquee for the game was fixed (if even in bits). Pakistan produces such an abundance of natural talent... if only they'd think a bit, the world would be better for it.

Weapon of mass STFU

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 15:11:00 +0000

Are you,
tired of windows fanboys screaming that windows is stable?
tired of linux fanboys screaming that linux is stabler?
tired of linux fanboys screaming that their OS is near impossible to break?

Do you just want them to STFU?The diligent folks working at Engineers - Very Insidious Ltd (E-VIL) have come up with just the product for you! We present for you, the Destructo Drive. Masterminded by the head of E-VIL, Dr. S.H. Ravan himself, this innocent looking usb drive guarantees a system crash on any OS.

Innocent looking Drive

Just plug it in, and get ready for the fanboys to be annihilated.

Destroyer of Worlds

Cake as a metophor for life

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:16:00 +0000

Just the other day, I was talking to VRD, and ended up saying that cake is a metaphor for life. It was said in jest, but come to think of it, it is true. This is because cake, like life, can be bitter, sweet, dry, awesome, horrible, cheesy, hard etc.

Like life, cake has a lot of variety. Cakes can be confusing, astounding, magnificent or boring.

Most importantly, like life...

... the cake is a lie!

Political Statement Fail

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 10:48:00 +0000

Honestly, I can't imagine Manmohan Singh/ Sonia Gandhi reacting any differently to statements like that

Talent

noreply@blogger.com (greySith) — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 04:58:00 +0000

Precocious Talent in the 20th Century:

Precocious 'talent' in the 21st Century:

How sad.

(For those in the dark: Row 1: Sachin Tendulkar, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson. Row 2: Justin Bieber, Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers)