Conformity is Insanity

Wish to See a Change in Me!!!

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:57:00 +0000

Wish to see a change in me,
Like the way it’s going to be.
Never have I felt so lame,
End of it, all the same.

The days gone by so far,
Kept my mind’s door ajar.
Life to me, is nothing great,
Let me change, before it’s too late.

Silent I have been today,
Memories pass by every day.
Spent it wisely I know not,
To think of it, what have I got?

Friends and foes, all along,
They were the notes of a long lost song.
Looking back, I for once smile with glee,
This is all the best it can ever be.

Change, change, change is all I need,
The sooner, before I bleed.
Things will change, so will I,
Cross my heart, this isn’t a lie.

40 Years On - Woodstock Lives!!!

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:46:00 +0000

I wasn't born that time... let alone live the experience of the Woodstock festival. Forty years ago, four men viz., Michael Lang, John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, and Artie Kornfeld conceptualized this concert that would go down in the history of rock n' roll for generations to come. The likes of Jimi Hendrix, Ravi Shankar, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead to name a few did their bit to redefine the art of live concert music to appease a crowd of die-hard fans!!! 40 years on... the spirit of Woodstock still lives!!! Long Live Woodstock, Long Live Rock!!!

Disclaimer: The image(s) in this post and the link(s) mentioned are owned by Woodstock and shall not be used for any commercial purpose whatsoever.

Penmanship - The Obsolete Art

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Tue, 19 May 2009 06:46:00 +0000

Last week, during one of those usual meetings, I was asked to do the note taking (fancy me listening to someone and jotting down the proceedings on my note pad). I was going easy for a few lines in the beginning, but as the ideas started pouring in, the brainstorm cloud getting darker around... voices stating their opinions... I had to keep up with the pace, as well as giving my ideas. I felt the pace going down, the handwriting becoming awry (not that I'm a calligrapher least to say). I was asking for the crowd to hold on to their horses as I had left my own way behind :) , just then I realized, the other guy in the room who was noting down the points was wriggling his hand every few seconds... I thought I was the only one around who had lost touch in handwrtiting, in fact happy that there were others as well, sad and questioning the fact that have we become too dependent on typing.

I still remember in boarding school, when I used to write letters to my family and friends. The Rs. 1 envelope were our e-mails (read envelope-mails, its sealed and so is my confidentiality) and the yellow Rs. 0.50 cards were our blog space (yeah right... talk about privacy), ha ha ha... Since each of us had an account at the school stationary store, we were allotted only a certain amount of envelopes and postcards per month. So, writing letters were more to do with rationing the postal assets rather than dealing with the family / friend communication. We weren't any novelists who wrote flawlessly until the end, on the contradictory, our letters were filled with scores of scratches (wonder, what it was like having backspace for letters) and over writings and smudges of ink, not to mention the finger prints all over the cards, when we could actually sign our letters. The joy was in writing one whole sheet or two and sealing the same in the envelope and dropping them in the boxes. Of course, the waiting time for the replies was even more thrilling especially if you had written to a girl (man, those days were long gone). Our exams, class notes were written painlessly without a frown (you know I'm lying, I used to crib, Period!) These days, I hardly see any hand written notes or letters exchanged between people.

Why write when I can type? Why post when I can e-mail? Why wait endlessly when I can receive response in a flash?

Of course, these queries fall short of convincing answers at least at this juncture. But, never the less, we have definitely made the art of Penmanship an obsolete art. To put it plainly, we haven't given it much thought either. Shudder to think, when our own handwriting becomes synonymous with Egyptian Hieroglyphics or the German Enigma Code :(

(I know, I know, now why did I type this post rather than writing it.... so you see... I'm a slave of the digital age just like the rest of you!!!)

Tears of the Morning Rose

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Thu, 07 May 2009 13:55:00 +0000

Saw her beside the Aisle 5,
Beads of tears in her eye.
Helplessly standing motionless,
Made me sad none the less.

Wish I could talk to her,
See if I could lend my ear.
But, who am I there,
Just a stranger for all I care.

Clinching tight a phone in her hand,
Cooing her way trying to understand.
The other side was cold,
For reasons, she was never told.

I couldn't help but stand there,
Wishing with me she would share.
But, who am I there,
Just a stranger for all I care.

A pretty face with a sadness,
Soaked her soul with dampness.
Tears rolling down her pearly eyes,
She was the morning rose that never lies.

Helpless to help, so was I,
For reasons I know why.
But, who am I there,
Just a stranger for all I care.

(Note: Wrote this on the fly, based on a true event.)

Our Gathering

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:36:00 +0000

The title suggests nothing more than a meet up with my college friends after almost 6 months. That's kinda long for me I must say. But, the best part is I spent two whole days with them and finished the weekend with a dinner. The four best friends I should say. None of us have changed one bit... this June, we'll be celebrating our 10th anniversary... ha ha ha!!! Come to think of it, we were just some out of high school 17 year olds who were clueless when we first met up in June 1999. Times have changed, but we haven't. We're still the old retards that we always were, and fortunately will still continue to be. Ok, now for some brief intro about us (I'll start from left - right)

1. Madhan Govindaraj a.k.a Maddy
About him: The guy with the quick wit, able to get out of situations in a flash... our comic relief.

2. Thirunarayan Vijayan a.k.a Loose
About him: The guy who talks more when asked less, talks less when never asked, at times psychotic.

3. Pradeep Chandramohan a.k.a Mandi
About him: The man with a purpose, our de-facto captain!!! Always cheerful, & at times, schemes with Thiru on getting psychotic.

4. Balachander Srinivasan a.k.a Pongi
About him: The loud mouth... talk, talk & more talk... of course the man with some ideas up his sleeve...

This definitely was an awesome time well spent... we spoke, about the good ol' times and the bad ol' times... I was happy that these guys too hadn't stepped out for a while... & I was there to share the time & space, hopefully should make this a regular affair... Before I wind up, I got to say this... "We are what we were, are & will always be!!!" Cheers guys!!!

My very own comic strip and the first as well

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:39:00 +0000

I got to register on a site that lets you create your own comic strip for free. You can use your imagination and creativity and publish your own comic strip. I did mine... it was more like a homage to those commercials you get to see on TV, except that this is with a funny angle... and like it or not a controversial one too... (again, that's left to viewers' discretion). Here you go...

New York Comic Con 2009

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:12:00 +0000

Got to attend the New York Comic Con 2009 in New York City on Feb 8, 2009.

Talk, Taxi, & so on...

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 02:43:00 +0000

Couldn't take the train to work cos the road to reach the station was blocked as some gas pipeline was busted. So, hired a cab. The ride was fun, from Edison to Princeton. I expected the cab driver to be an Asian either a Pakistani or Bangladeshi. But, he turned out to be an local American from the strongholds of South Edison, a full blooded New Jerseyan. His name was Rudy, didn't bother to ask his last name. An entertaining guy I must say, in his early 50's, donning an aviator sunglasses and sporting a stub, he looked a typical sub-urban white locale. He asked me if he could stop mid-way to see and give some money to his mother, I said I didn't have a problem. He was pleased. Then, the ice broke, we spoke and spoke for almost 20 minutes of the ride. He was single, loved his weekly beer and babe :) . He asked me about India, then we spoke about what not... to mention a few, beer, babes, Bob Dylan, families, Woodstock, New York, 60's sex revolution etc... I don't know how, but he said he liked the way I spoke unlike so many patrons he drives around, I was flattered. A joy ride it turned out to be!!!

Saluting the Brave!!!

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:26:00 +0000

I'm writing this post after a long break. Reasons are many: lazy, not bothered, what's the point... so on and so forth. But a lot has happened during this hiatus... some plesant, some very very unpleasant. Not to mention, the 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks has left many of us hurt mentally and physically... Our own existence in our own country has become a matter of life and death of which the latter is sure owing to the recent terror attacks. I don't want to blame anyone here, coz out there, lot many netizens are doing that and I don't see any meaning in beating a dead snake. But, my honors for the brave who fought and laid their lives so we may walk again with our head held high. To all the souls who risked everything for our safety, "Thank you!!! We owe our lives to you!!!"

To commend this, I want to post a photo of an NSG commando that was shot by a Reuters photographer and published on Boston.com. This was taken during the rescue operations outside the Taj Hotel, Mumbai.

Disclaimer: The image(s) in this post and the link(s) mentioned are owned by Reuters & Boston.com and shall not be used for any commercial purpose whatsoever.

Monochromatix

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:08:00 +0000

After a couple of weeks, I'm posting something that I've collected in the hibernation period. Again, some more pictures shot in Black & White and tuned to suit the mood. I couldn't fit in all the images here (about 21 of them). So, this what I did, I've created a thumbnail of all the images and have made an index card kinda stuff. And I've linked the index card to my Picasa web album. Some of the images in album has already been posted on the blog. The album contains the old and the new ones as well. So, go ahead and have a look.

Disclaimer: The image(s) in this post and the link(s) mentioned are owned by Mnemonix and shall not be used for any commercial purpose whatsoever.

Sci-Fi to Reality - Birth of the Droid Army

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:22:00 +0000

"With these new battle droids we've built for you, you'll have the finest army in the Galaxy."
―Wat Tambor to Count Dooku

Being a Star Wars junkie, I've always wondered what it is like to live in a Star Wars universe? I guess the fine line between sci-fi and reality has already been broken with the recent happenings. The Imperial Empire's 'Droid Army' (robot warriors) who are pre-programmed to fight the Galactic Rebels has formed a larger than life picture in the movies' battle scenes. Speaking of fiction becoming a reality, the recent news on slashdot.org states that the US Air Force will replace an entire squadron consisting of F-16 Falcons with UAV MQ-9 Reapers. All these UAVs will be remote-controlled from a Command & Control base station. This LINK gives a detailed news about the squadron. So are we seeing the birth of Darth Vader next? ;)

Trainspotting

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:31:00 +0000

For about a month, I've been travelling from home to office (client's office) in the Chennai Metro trains. The stations I board and depart are not crowded at any time of the day. In fact the trains themselves travel to and fro between 10-12 stations and the same have only two tracks in parallel starting from Beach to Velachery and vice-versa. This train is what they call the 'Flying Train' since the tracks are elevated and are hi-speed trains. It takes about 20 minutes from my home to office. Around a span of three days, I shot some photos. I've combined four of them and posted here. Have a look...

Disclaimer: The image in this post is owned by Mnemonix and shall not be used for any commercial purpose whatsoever.

Coffee At Amethyst

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:26:00 +0000

The other night, some colleagues and I had been to a coffee shop or should I say 'bar' (they were serving non-alcoholic beer) called Amethyst in Roypettah, Chennai. A very nice place with an orchard around, dimly lit with a very subtle ambience. Of course the food (mostly Italian) and the coffee were really great. I ordered some penne and hot chocolate.

Until I got my order, was shooting some pics on my N95. I've edited them to fit into this post here. So have a look.

Disclaimer: The image in this post is owned by Mnemonix and shall not be used for any commercial purpose whatsoever.

The Good Die Young

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:13:00 +0000

I read a post on this blog, I actually don't know the author well, he happens to be a colleague's friend. In this post, he'd written about his friend who passed away recently. There is this song by Queen, 'No One But You Only The Good Die Young". The guitarist Brian May attributed this song to Freddie Mercury highlighting the Mercury's early demise. At times, you might never know the person who died or is on the death bed, but the very fact is, being human, everyone will feel sorry for even a stranger's death.

The other day, a couple of colleagues & me were out for lunch, we saw an ambulance passing by, the sirens blaring, it was clear that they were carrying a person with his relative inside. As it passed by, one colleague crossed his heart (the Holy Cross sign). Then, another guy asked him why he did that, he said, "I don't know who that guy is, but I hope he gets fine and may God be with him." All of us may not Cross our hearts, but the simple fact is we might just wish the stranger is fine.

I might not believe in divinity and not be the best person to talk about, but I do feel sorry whenever I see / read about innocents being killed accidently or otherwise. I can recall another incident that I read on Wikipedia on Ayrton Senna's death, the surgeon who was there on the race circuit said, "He looked serene. I raised his eyelids and it was clear from his pupils that he had a massive brain injury. We lifted him from the cockpit and laid him on the ground. As we did, he sighed and, although I am totally agnostic, I felt his soul depart at that moment."

Like to conclude this post saying may the strangers' souls rest in peace.

Puzzled

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:17:00 +0000

How queer everything is today! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, “Who am I?” Ah, that's the great puzzle!

(Source: A Gtalk status message of a friend)

Lost in Interpretation

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:56:00 +0000

Got this joke as a forward... thought I'd post this, really funny...

To all the Mailman out there

It was the mailman's last day on the job after 35 years of carrying the mail through all kinds of weather to the same neighborhood.

When he arrived at the first house on his route he was greeted by the whole family there, who congratulated him and sent him on his way with a big gift envelope.

At the second house they presented him with a box of fine cigars.

The folks at the third house handed him a selection of terrific fishing lures.

At the fourth house he was met at the door by a strikingly beautiful blonde in in a revealing negligee.

She took him by the hand, gently led him through the door (which she closed behind him), and led him up the stairs to the bedroom where she blew his mind with the most passionate love he had ever experienced.

When he had had enough they went downstairs, where she fixed him a giant breakfast: eggs, potatoes, ham, sausage, blueberry waffles, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. When he was truly satisfied she poured him a cup of steaming coffee.

As she was pouring, he noticed a dollar bill sticking out from under the cup's bottom edge. 'All this was just too wonderful for words,' he said, 'but what's the dollar for?'

'Well,' she said, 'last night, I told my husband that today would be your last day, and that we should do something special for you. I asked him what to give you.'

He said, 'Screw him - - - give him a dollar.'

The blonde then blushed and said, 'The breakfast was my idea.'

Profiling Proposals

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:50:00 +0000

I had one colleague of mine call me the other day asking me to check on about a company. He gave me the name and asked to look it up on the Internet to get further details. He then said it was for one of his neighbour's daughter who was to be married to a guy who works for the company. I was actually thinking about the same reason and my instincts proved me right. I burst out laughing. Said I'll check it & let him know, which I did.

Believe me, this was not the first time I had to do some profiling of companies or people working for them for probable wedding proposals. With so many IT companies cropping up, and so many young people working for them, and with arranged marriages in our country, it definitely tends to blur the line between HRs and marriage brokers. One guy in an IT firm is engaged to a girl who works for a different IT firm, so doing a so called 'background verification' or should I say 'profiling proposals' becomes easier, thanks to major attrition rate these days one might be an ex-colleague of the guy who'll become a new colleague of the girl. So, it's just a matter of few minutes before one gets to know about his/her would-be better half.

This kind of back ground profiling is you know one way very annoying, of course you can't help it if people genuinely ask you that as a favour, all be it in a noble sense, but personally speaking, it just doesn't seem right. Thought I'd post this for someone there to read and have a good laugh. I'm definitely laughing now!!! :D

Mean Machine

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:28:00 +0000

Hey people... just about two & half years back, you saw my motorcycle, an Enfield bullet nicknamed Iron Wolf. Now, the same machine went through major rehaul and make over with an engine rebore, a brand new carburattor, paint work and a wider rear tyre. This machine is what I call the Iron Wolf 2 (I know the name sounds corny, but can't think of anything else, your suggestions are NOT welcome, ha ha ha!!!). Have a look for yourself. By the way, that's good ol' me on my machine. And last but not least, the credit goes to my dear ol' brother... who took all pains to get this motorcycle back on road!!! Thanks bro... love ya!!! ;)

Disclaimer: The image in this post is owned by MNEMONIX and shall not be used for any commercial purpose whatsoever, violators will be made to lie down and have the Iron Wolf run over you.

Notebook Stickerz

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:56:00 +0000

I'd been collecting some stickers for a while mostly computer related. Just stuck them on my notebook to give it a geeky touch... though I'd share it across... here you go, have a look... ;) I've numbered them indicating the sources as well. Check below:

1. From a pack of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 DVD. (Actually, I stole this, this belongs to my company... he he he!!!)

2. From a box of Linksys Wi-Fi Router. (Stole this as well, I should have rephrased the starting lines...)

3. Bought these beauties over the Internet at Jinx. (Am saying the truth... paid like $10 for the whole set)

4. Ahh.... what's an Apple doing on a HP??? (This was given by my buddy... Yogi Wan Kenobe, he got this when he bought a new Apple Powerbook)

Sanity for Sale

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:43:00 +0000

Recent news of a guy from Perth, Australia put his life on sale. The highest bid as of this writing is AU $386,100.00, and there are 61 bids so far. The winner gets to keep his 3-bedroom house, a car, motorcycle, jet-ski, job and best of all his friends (sorry... no wife included). People might have various opinions on this... either this guy has lost his head, or this guys is frustrated with life (read this news), or this guy is trying to garner serious publicity... whatever it is... I had a good laugh reading this piece and I really like the way this guy ends by stating that once the bid is over and he hands his life to the winner, he'll walk out of his house with only his clothes that he's wearing, the money in one pocket and his passport in the other. And, he'll go to the airport and catch the immediate flight with the readily available seat to whatever destination... man, that sounds like definitely getting away from it all.

This aroused my interest to come up with something... but the hitch here is ...

Sanity Sells, but Who's Buying???

Vodka Canned Oranje Juice

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 05:15:00 +0000

Finally the Russians proved to be a force to reckon with... the Euro 2008 3rd quarter finals saw the Russians beat the pulp of the Neatherlands and can the Orange!!!

This reminds me of the Euro 1988 finals between the erstwhile Soviet Union and the Neatherlands, where the Dutch won clean hands-down. Marco van Basten, the star of the Euro 1988 would have to live with that championship crown alone as his greatest achievement, sadly he couldn't make his team win the title as a coach. But, all said and done, the Dutch did prove to be a formidable force with their group matches wins against the Les Blues and the Azzuris.

Now, for the toast, will Gus Hiddink's team overcome the Spanish Armada? Will they avenge the defeat or sink again?

(I tried this post to see how I pose as a sports columnist, believe me... I don't stand a chance!!! He he he!!!)

Paint the Picture

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:39:00 +0000

This was one of the pic I shot during my office cricket match. I'd have mentioned this in one of the earlier posts as well (sometime in Jan). Chose one, and played around with Picasa & Photoshop until I made this photo a painting. I filled some light and highlighted the pic in Picasa and then added the 'Dark Stroke' filter in Photoshop to create this painting effect, again added some lights and decreased the shadows in Picasa. So, feast your eyes on the 'Painting'. ;)

Homeage to 'War Games'

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:53:00 +0000

As Slashdot stated in the article (click on the that link pardner....), the movie 'War Games' celebrated its 25th anniversary. This movie redefined the cyber punk genre and the 'teens-hacking-government-sites-from-their-rooms' culture!!! Just yesterday, two US Congressman had accused the Chinese government of aiding hackers to penetrate Congress computers to sniff out sensitive information. Another incident of 20 Chinese hackers gaining access to pentagon computers from an apartment on a Chinese island. Everyday we hear of some security compromise, sites being hacked, critical networks being sabotaged by teenagers...

The invention of the Internet to ease the communication has ironically become a cyber-criminals' war zone... with more and more new social networking sites, Web 2.0 enabled content sites not being tested properly, and more organizations connecting their internal network to the Internet, the hackers are gonna have a field day!!! :)

To end it all, here's a rumor / myth that has been attributed to Kevin Mitnick during his hey days...

"Kevin Mitnick could launch nuclear weapons by whistling into a payphone!"

Fear Psychosis

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Sun, 25 May 2008 01:57:00 +0000

Finally got to see 'The Machinist' today. Christian Bale has played his part to the best as far as I saw him. This movie has the lead who's a emaciated skeleton... he's being haunted by his past fears that make him paranoid! Mid-way through the movie I could relate myself to the character 'Trevor Reznek' (the lead's name). Running away from your past isn't cool.... you gotta stand your ground and fight.... now that's way too cool!!! 'Confrontation' is the name of the game... he he he... 'Trevor Reznek' ultimately does that... no wonder he got to play 'Bruce Wayne / Batman' later!!! Way to go dude!!!

My Music - My Mind - My Existence

noreply@blogger.com (MNEMONIX) — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:59:00 +0000

Whenever I've felt low at times... it's my music that awakes me. Makes me feel like new! Wonder why / how that happens!

There are lot many occasions that you can relate to the song that you've listened. Probably the mood you were in when it was ringing in your ears, might have been the same mood the singer would've been when he sang the song.

This is so true especially the kind of music that I listened to... the metal & rock numbers were definitely written with some passion, some experience... so, help is always on the way. Everyone should listen to their own music, because that's the final sound you'll be carrying when you can listen no more!!! Long live Rock!!!