The fart lair

The new "me"

2006-07-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

Ok, i have given up on sticking to my old pic and have chosen a newer (better?) one to go with on blogger alone...everywhere else, i shall retain my old pic :) comments are most welcome :D

The journey...

2006-07-10T11:23:00.000-07:00

As i was cycling back from home to hostel yesterday evening, I was in some kind of mood and the following lines ran through my mind as I went through the paces...

The road ahead appears narrow and dark,
People are there all around,
Some walking, some waiting,
Some stand still not knowing what to do..

As I inch closer to my destination,
My legs get wearier, I feel weaker,
The humidity saps the strength out of my body,
I slow down and move on slowly and steadily.

As I watch, quite a few overtake me,
But it hardly bothers me;
My speed slackens but not my spirit,
I keep pushing myself just that bit harder to keep up the pace.

The sun peeps from the edge of the horizon,
The street lights start to come on one by one,
I manage to get past one or two,
But many others have already passed by me.

Drenched in sweat, I feel completely exhausted,
I step down to take a break at the corner shop,
Sip a drink and enjoy its coolness,
As I realize its getting late and its time to buckle up.

As I climb onto my cycle I feel a surge of energy,
The road suddenly seems to have become wider,
And all the potholes have gone to fend elsewhere,
The new layer of tar makes the ride a pleasure!

Its not soon that I reach a traffic junction,
The red signal stops me in my tracks;
I have no choice but to wait,
But soon, I am back on my way.

I can now spot some ahead in the distance,
Those who went past me sometime ago;
I wonder if I can ever catch up with them,
The sight of them makes me determined to push myself;

Quickening up my pace,
I move ahead hoping to make up for lost time,
The many speed breakers look as though
They remind me that I just cant go fast

The road too is filled with stones strewn all over
Rugged and tough, my tyres take a real beating
Just as I start pondering my next step,
The back tyre gets screwed up...

That ends part 1 of the poem representing all the random thoughts that went on in my mind then.... Part 2 will take some time coming but its going to be there someday, someway˙.

How much more worse can it get?!?

2006-07-05T01:45:00.000-07:00

A message i received in my orkut inbox today from a guy who sent it to a community i am a member of...

subject: hi ppl a request
message: hi (*&%ites
myself and my friends r playing a game in which whoever gets the maximum scrap after a month wins ....
kindly scrap me and help me ...
scrap anything ...plz
help me win..
thank u
#$%$#%

man oh man!! i think this is getting out of hand now!! this orkut craze :(

Mothi

2006-07-01T00:21:00.000-07:00

If there is one name I will never ever forget in my life, it has to be MOTHI...My dear dog. The times I have had with him, the fun, the laughs, the times...They all come rushing back to memory sometimes when I am in hostel sitting alone with nothing much to do.

Its been close to a week since the dreaded thing happened...Yes, my dear Mothi passed away on last Monday (June 26) :( We knew it was coming as he had not been well for over a week and eating nothing..and i mean nothing at all. But the suffering he underwent for over 2 days constantly shouting and being restless, moving from one place to another, drinking something and then immediately vomitting it..It was real painful to see him suffer like that after the over 12 years he had spent with us. Though me and my sister were quite able to control our emotions, it was our mother who has extremely distraught and cried a lot. After all, she was the one who had been with him at home when all of us had gone to school/college all these years and had taken care of him the most right from bathing him to feeding him to taking him to the hospital to what not..

He had given us quite a scare on many an occasion when he would not eat absolutely anything for days on end and lie down at one place. But somehow or the other, he recovered from each one of those trials and enjoyed a freash lease of life. I was hoping in the deepest of my hearts that this would be one more such time though I know it quite wasn't gonna happen.

I pray to God that Mothi's soul rest in peace and He will take good care of him. Bye bye mothi :(

title-less...

2006-06-22T22:36:00.000-07:00

Yet again, its a reminder from a friend (or two rather) that reminds me that its my bounden duty to post on this blog..after all, its mine..:-/

Till now, a combination of my lack of enthusiasm and overflowing cup of laziness have "prevented" me from posting and its there even as I type this post...So, I shall keep it short..

For starters, I have a domain of my own now :D.. But the same old combo mentioned afore has made sure that even it is still very much brand new and not much different from a default wordpress installation. There is some piece of info that might interest thou reader though. Do check it out ;) I will try to add more pages over there and possibly, shift to blogging there from here sometime in the near future...

Orkutting has become part and parcel of my life now...And as a result, I have realised two things.. One=>The most widely asked question/discussed thing around on orkut as far as I can see is P-R-O-J-E-C-T!! From what project are you doing? to How is it going, every alternate scrap seems to revolve around the same topic..:)..And two=>I love smileys..[:D]

Other than that, my project has been going a bit slow but hopefully, will shift gears soon :) Webops work on hold now..Not much work on shaastra side and saarang...well, work is there to be done but not so urgent thankfully..Oh, I dint tell you right...My computer has decided to take some rest (thats my way of saying Its stopped working!! ;) ) and so, life is bit offtrack now..But I am finding other ways of coping with the situation as of now :D

Catch you on my own domain then!!

Whats on

2006-05-16T23:58:00.000-07:00

Well well...this blog is started to gather dust faster than I expected it to :(

And that aint too much of a surprise given that i rarely get the enthu to blog (time's no constraint you see ;) ) and more importantly, what to blog about...reading others blogs and commenting on them is so much more peace..And seeing the rate at which new blogs are popping up in the blog-o-sphere(read the stud and new kid on the block-very nice work), the rate at which others are updating their blogs(read Hari's blog, Kavya's blog and all the linux blogs i follow) and the blogs of old friends which i discovered in the past few days(read Madhav's blog and a few(Chennai Central who arent exactly friends but maintain great blogs), it made me want to join the party too and post atleast one post...it hurts even more because this is (supposed to be) my summer hols time...but then i decided not to spend it like every other summer hol so far and have kept myself involved with a project and shaastra webops work(which is keeping me quite occupied when the project doesnt and infact, for one of the few occasions after school, i am really enjoying something what i am doing :) )

so here is the actual beginning of this particular post...with nothing that i could think of writing about, i thought i will keep thou dear reader with whats on in my life...

1) Summer Project: Three reasons for doing it-(a)i dont want to waste my time like last year
(b)why not learn something instead of sitting idle/doing nothing at home/in front of comp/tv?
(c)(least but still relevant reason) Almost everyone else is doing it, so why should i be left alone?

Its a project under a prof from anna univ...he has high hopes for sure...talked about publishing paper the first day i met him...if that comes true, man!! that would just be awesome!!

but the rate at which things are progressing at the lab is just oh too painfully slow :( and me having to go there in hot sun at 9 in morning cycling about a km and then again to and fro hostel in worst noon sun around 1 for lunch is even more painful :( till now, the work hasnt been very involving...basic stuff..should get more interesting by the end of this week when i can start working independently of the other research scholars..

2) Shaastra WebOps: If its lab work in the morning, its shaastra webops at night time!! life is buzzing with activity and webops provides me with some new challenge or the other every new day. and i am loving it...thats the best part about it :) as of now, have worked with 2 others and done a subdomain of the site (wait for a bit more time all ye interested IITians and you will get to know what i am talking about...non-IITians...well, sorry...the part i have done is of no relevance to you :( )...will soon be working on other parts of the main site like helpdesk and few others..hope it all comes out nice and fine..

3) Grades: The sem grades came out on monday and yesterday...not as good as i had expected but surprisingly, i have managed to get the better of some who got the better of me the whole of 2005-a very very bad year as far as acads was concerned. am hoping i will be able to convince atleast one prof to give me a better grade..lets see..

4) Staying in hostel during hols: home sweet home is just (dirt filled potholes filled tar strewn roads) 4km away but staying in hostel gives me so much more time to adjust with both project work and shaastra work. I have gone home just twice since exams got over...not sure how my mom is feeling about this :(

5) Saarang and insti webops work beckons..the next year is filled with webops for me..we have some plans for both...only time will tell if they can be implemented. lets see :)

oh...and before i forget, let me mention this piece of crappy info :D..lately, I have started deriving great pleasure at gesturing my hands to people who keep their headlights on during bload daylight while cycling from place a to place b..infact, this is something i have always enjoyed doing...once while on scooty too, i did it atleast to some 3 others only to realise that i myself had kept my headlight on on reaching home :D

Its high time i started learning ajax and implementing it to parts of the shaastra site...so off i go!!

Why did this happen?!?

2006-04-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

My comp has cupped :(( I feel like arghhh but then what to do? Its just one of those times in life when you know you cant do much but just wait for better times to return...I was "working" on it yesterday and then all of a sudden, it goes kaboom..monitor blanks off and the comp refused to restart. I learn from the similar experience of the guy next door that this is most probably a problem with the SMPS or the BIOS neither of which I can repair myself. And today was a holiday not only for me but for the damn Comp shop from where i got the comp too :( So, gotta wait till atleast tomorrow for him to come have a look and from the look of things, it will take atleast 3-4 more days for things to come back to normal. Till then, I gotta be content with the hostel comp room comps i guess...*sigh*

UPDATE:
its a problem with my motherboard unlike what i had guessed...which means it will take atleast a week more from today for it to get repaired :((

UPDATE 2 (28/4):
yay!! my comp is back to working condition now :D...got a new replacement motherboard and everything is back in place now..:)

A different tone..for once

2006-04-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

Its been more than 2 weeks since my last post and the urge within to keep my blog updated pushed me to write a post on something..but I was just not able to complete it. It still lies incomplete as one of my (many) drafts. *sigh*

But the wide world of blogging has given me lots to think about over the last two three days..Especially this post and this blog. The first one came to me through one of my friends and the latter through an article(you can read it online here). I read in the Sunday Magazine of The Hindu. Both set me thinking albeit in quite different ways.

Let me put forth my thoughts about the first post on sidin's post on the travails of south indian men as he calls it. When I read it first, it seemed all too funny and hilarious to read. I laughed a lot and had a good time reading it. Thanks sidin for that. But it was only when I came to the comments section that I started thinking about the post. Some claim it to be a forged piece having already been published elsewhere earlier. Many praised the funny nature of the article. There were a few comments that made quite an impact on me though. Especially the ones made by a few women (and men too) who wrote on the contrary on the subject and disagreed with the views in the post. What are we doing by talking low of our own culture? There is a reason behind the naming convention and personally, I like to hear Swaminathan rather than Akshay (no specific person in mind here :) ). It seems so much more Indian. Some comments made the point that southis are not so outgoing and free as people from the north which I guess is quite true, though it is rapidly changing in today's scenario. Surely, just one's name cant be the reason a girl doesnt fall for you. It has to do with lot more factors, which I guess no one has been able to conclusively quantize as yet.Its quite silly to shift the blame to something you have (almost) no control over than just accept the plain truth.

Coming to the second link, the Blank Noise Project (what an innovative name!! I wonder who came up with it). I dont think I have much to say about it. The page itself and the hindu article tell you what it is. Eve teasing is quite a "sensitive" topic and a blog is a nice way to collect the thoughts of many people from different corners of the world. I myself have had strong views on the subject. In my opinion, its right for a girl to say I need the freedom to be what I want to be and so on but one must accept that in a country like ours where we still havent fully come to terms with the so-called "Modern world", there is still a limit to which one has to adhere to. A person had said in one of the comments this point..."The best way is to dress modestly.Now dont tell me that even if u cover completly there are men who lay hands on women or tease them.But you will observe that by dressing modestly.It is better not to give chance to a thief than to tempt him & then tell him you should curb your urges"...a very very valid point indeed. One cant totally put the blame on guys..And yes, the generalization about all/most guys being of the same kind, that is often done when something bad happens is not justified at all. Its high time everyone realises this.

To end the post on a lighter note, I am gonna be adding a RFOTD to my blog(just below the "About Me" part). Check it out. I will try to keep up its name and update it on a daily basis :) I have been experimenting with css and added a dash of colours to the blog here and there. Any opinions?

The call..

2006-03-13T20:40:00.000-08:00

(For the backstreet boys fans out there, let me tell you. They suck...royally. And this post has nothing to do with their stupid song of the same name. But yes sapo, i still like westlife a bit)

This is going to be a slicha long post written in a narrative way. Unless you have lot of time (to waste), please try listening to the podcast or move over. :)

Date: Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Time: 7:25PM
Place: Me in my room as usual doing some fart on my comp

Situation:

Siddesh (for those who dont know and those who think they know, he is a 3rd yr comp sci guy in the thick of election 2006 matters) calls up. Asks me to install linux on dean's office comps for the elections on friday. Ok, I pack grub and go. The deans PA guy (hereafter referred to as the guy) there is slicha pained and wants to leave. And siddesh too has work in some hostel. So, me is left alone there and the guy says, "I am leaving. just bolting the door, not locking. Call me when you are done". Set down to work. Pretty painful in the beginning as all 3 comps have been stripped (a)part by part. And only one of the mice is PS2. rest dont work. pain :(

setup one comp and start the process. the comp bulbs and i need to start the install process atleast two times over. Time flies. the clock ticks to 8:30. Now, there is a knock on the door. Look up. Some non-insti guy standing there. Tries to open door. Fails. I go near the door and try to open from inside. No luck. but clearly, the lock wasnt put. both try again to open but to no avail. give up on it. he claims to be from tata indicom and has come to take one of their instruments to put in the hostels. (Now, whose idea was it to put them? Absolutely no need when 99% of us have cell phones. the rest 1% better get one soon. and no privacy at all. whats the use?!?) We again try opening. pushing, pulling..no use. i decide to call the guy..Take cell. Zuk signal. Wtf?!? shake it like its one of those centrifuge tubes. some sign of signal. one bar. good, now call. Ring ring, ring ring. full ring goes but the idiot doesnt pick up. try again. again, doesnt pick up. after that, its time for hutch to not let me try any more and bore me with stupid messages like Network busy, Number not reachable, try again later.. things that make me go arghhhh. Then suddenly a brainwave strikes me. This is deans office. There must be a landline somewhere around here.....and there was one. So, pick it up and dial the number. Again, the idiot doesnt pick up. try again. god knows what he was doing. he just doesnt want to pick up no matter what. ok, once more. no luck. full ring and then the engaged tone. i decide this guy is mad and keep the receiver down. and lo and behold, the phone rings once i keep it down. thinking ok, good. this guy has atleast some sense and is calling back, i pick up the phone and say hello expecting to hear a familiar voice. a coarse male voice replies back, rather retorts back..Is this 8051???..taken aback, i ask, sir.....reply comes faster than i expect..Is this 8051?!? Who are you?..being alone in the 2nd floor of some arbit building at night when normally you expect to be cooling your heels off in your room, the situation gets to my head. something shady going on here i realise and reply..sir, i am ganesh, a second year student....
Voice at other end:Is this deans office? Is this 8051???..
Me:sir, i am working on the computers here sir. For the elections. installing linux. And i am not sure if this is 8051 sir. Its just one of the landlines here sir
Voice:What are you doing there now?!?
Me:sir, the person here had told me to call back once i was done..a guy has come asking...
the voice starts speaking even as i try to explain my situation..
Voice:Look, i am...i am..*long pause*...i am the head of the mechanical department.
Me:(trying to sound very apolegitic)Sorry sir...am very sorry sir..
Voice:This is my number. 94444*****..dial the number carefully next time.
Me:yes sir..sorry sir for...

As i speak, the line is cut. Phew, i heave a sigh of relief. Life can get exciting at times in all the wrong ways for sure!!

PS:it later turned out that the guy had infact only closed the door and not locked it. it was just stuck a bit. :-/ and for all the time that i was there, i searched as much i could but deans office is gib...there just wasnt anything worthy of culting ;)

PS2: i was very relieved when on friday at the meeting of all hostel wardens at CC after elections were over to tally the results that the mech HOD was thankfully not one of the wardens :) i only hope he doesnt bump into me anywhere in the near future though its quite impossible that he will recognise my voice :D

Of elections and work..

2006-03-10T08:30:00.000-08:00

One will admit without any semblance of doubt that this year's elections were far far more subdued in all ways than last years..The excitement (and lots of other crap) that was there in the air in the days leading to the big day...the intense campaigning, deal striking, running around..nothing of that this year..in fact, not more than one guy came campaigning to my hostel...atleast when i was around. And i guess it was more of a want to try to defeat the other contestant who was widely claimed to be the better one and in the end, the former lost by a decent margin..

my experiences with both elections have been very different...actively involved in campaigning last year and this year in getting things working...an unofficial worker last year, officially a worker this year. both equally taxing i must admit though the later was more enjoyable in a few ways as it had to do with working with computers, my first love :) running various tests to ascertain everything is working right, helping in debugging the program, setting up firewalls on the servers, installing linux on the clients...i do enjoy doing all these as most already know. :D and yes, the latter is advantageous over the former in the sense that there is a treat for the taking come what may unlike the former, where you might get a treat if the guy wins, which in my case last year wasnt to be. He came excruciatingly close to winning only to lose by the lowest margin ever in insti elections...25 votes :(

the experience last year taught me that IITians neednt always think rationally and can go to any extreme to get their work done and bring down the other. it brought to the fore the hate that had been there between northis and gults most of the time, atleast as far as i know. the soap box and the eboard were classic examples of this. thankfully, such scenes were nowhere to be seen this year. no whole evenings wasted running around hostels disturbing people who are seriously doing something with all about the candidate's credentials and his promises (and most of the times, they remain just that).

Now, with 5 IITians having started their own party, looks like politics is getting into the IITians blood in a big way now...I wish the guys all the best in their endaevour and hope it doesnt loose steam and fade away..I still havent been able to make up my mind on whether what they are doing is quite right or not..Because in today's sh*tty indian political arena, its quite tough to bring about a change without giving in to some bad tactics but then a start has to be made some day or the other..in that sense, this is a great start :) lets all support them and hope they bring about the much needed change that we have all been looking forward to all these days!!

Psych...social in fact..

2006-02-23T07:54:00.000-08:00

(this post was initially written and saved as a draft sometime in jan..i decided to keep the first paragraph in place though it isnt relevant anymore)

Its the 3rd week of the semester and so far, so good...why wouldnt it be so? after all, we havent had any quizzes till now and saarang is also there to look forward to..and the classes have been as usual..mostly boring but i have found atleast two courses, if i may say three, interesting...i am really enjoying going to these classes more so because there is no need (or atleast thats how i see them as) for me to sit and write notes in my notebook which usually is a rough book made of left over papers..infact, I even went to a class of one course without anything in hand...it felt nice :D

now, one of these 3 courses i am referring to is the HS elective...Social Psychology.. i am still not sure why i chose it as my second option...but something keeps telling me that this is a good choice..and the prof is quite different from any other prof that i have had till now..she communicates really well and makes the class very lively while still "teaching" something...actually, i keep getting the feeling that there isnt much that one needs to learn in this subject..just practical observation and being able to correlate what you see happening around you in your daily life to what you already know. Though that might sound simple enough, it is actually speaking difficult. It is quite interesting to do it once yourself..say observe someone closely like you have never done before and see what inferences you can draw. Its quite an interesting exercise and you are sure to discover many things that were hitherto unnoticeable..(anyone doing the course will realise how badly i am aping the prof here ;) ).

The first quiz paper had apart from what was taught in class a particular question that asked if environment and culture were part of reasons responsible for India's success in Pak in the recently concluded cricket series...lets see how much she buys the argument (read fart) that i have written in the paper..the paper pretty much made concrete the feeling that almost all HS courses depend more on your english skills than anything else. the class today about how attitudes are formed was quite lively and interactive..Interactivenes...something that is in lots in this class. and that sets this course apart from all other courses. most other profs would come, teach, care very little whether the students like it or not and pack. and there are the few like one of our PMT profs who takes too much pain in making sure that everyone gets the point and it gets just unbearable sometimes when some guys ask dumb doubts..real dumb doubts..or ask him to repeat what he has just patiently explained for more than 10 minutes. but in social psychology, nothing of that sort happens. either you listen in class or she makes you listen!! she is constantly on the lookout for junta who are sleepy and wakes them up..has happened atleast twice with the same guy till now..and she has a good sense of humour too. thats a crucial aspect in the classes being enjoyable. and the anecdots/recollections from her experience of teaching both 4th years and 2nd years simultaneously too make for a good time. all in all, i have to admit i do enjoy the course a lot.

oh, and how can i forget chocolates and her class!! her policy is that if we come late by more than a minute on a day like tuesday when class if immediately after the lunch break, we need to get chocolates for the others when we have the next class...sounds childish but kinda has worked i must say. though some guys(and girl(s) too) have failed to get the chocolates (some accuse me of also being part of that gang having bunked the day after i went late :D ) after coming late. but thankfully, a good soul revived the tradition today after coming late yesterday. i hope i wont be needing to get chocolates ever again..but its hard whatwith my penchant to go late to classes..i get some kinda thrill out of it..even if i dont, i hope others keep up the trend and bring chocolates when they have to :D

We are not alone...

2006-02-17T17:42:00.000-08:00

If you read the title and started imagining that i am gonna be writing about aliens, UFOs and the like, you are gonna be disappointed at the end of the post..This is NOT about life on another planet. It is about the disconnecting of net that happens every (damn) day from 1 AM to 4 AM.... in case you did not know, this is not something that IITM can claim to be the pioneer of (nor IITMians claim the credit for pioneering such a thing)...For the unfortunate few who like blaming the dean for each and everything, let it be known that such a thing exists in high school hostels in the US for more than 2 decades!! In fact, it is cut from 1AM-6AM..2 hours more than us (though if we are to believe the discussions on DC that i was witness to during yesterday evening, lan is additionally gonna get screwed from 9-12AM too effective march 1st:(..shouldnt affect many people though...as we are all expected to have classes at these times )..by this time, most of us must have learnt it the hard way that this situation just isnt gonna get better...its perfectly right for us to have qualms about the way insti is going about making sure we attend classes..Having good profs who can teach really well will anyday attract junta to class, whether he be a muggu or a hardcore gamer.(we must accept that in todays scenario, neither you nor me is going to take up a teaching job even if the opportunity presents itself...the profession has just lost its sheen. i doubt if giving better salaries and perks will help in bringing more profs in). On one hand, I wholeheartedly support the lan cutting method of limiting us from wasting our time in all sorts of ways instead of attending classes but on the other, i keep feeling why cant there be a better solution to this problem..i am pretty sure many of us have been in some situation when we were really doing useful important work only to see the lan cup screwing us up badly just when it shouldn't have...And added to all this, it seems insti is also working to find a way to stop file sharing amongst us...though i doubt that they will ever be able to achieve this..should be interesting to see if they do achieve it and more importantly, how they achieve it..lets hope that insti doesnt go totally mad and resort to such mad measures. instead, i would be happy to suggest that they remove lan once and for all instead of imposing such stupid restrictions.

btw, i have added an automatically generated podcast of my blog..yup, you can now hear my blog and freely browse ahead without taking the pains to read with squinted eyes at the fart i write...though the voice isnt mine nor any other characteristic of the voice, it is only the wordings that i control...so dont be surprised if the voice instead of leaving a gap on encountering 3 dots but instead prefers to read them out!! Please do let me know about this new technology if i can call it so...only pain i think is that i need to be updating it whenever i post...hope i remember to. thanks to this website for creating the podcasts for me and storing them on their own servers too!! Check them out if you want to add a podcast for your blog too...or for the matter, any website that has a rss feed can be converted into a podcast.

PS: most of the stuff in the first part are totally based on some discussions seen in DC...so i do not vouch for its correctness.

Saarang 2006-an experience that was...

2006-02-05T03:35:00.000-08:00

With so many posts on Saarang (atleast from IIT junta on my list), I cant be left far behind can I?...

To start with, this Saarang was a lot different from the last edition...More because i knew what to expect and what to do and what not to do...Well, i landed up a volship under RG as a lec dem vol..something that almost never gave me time to witness the other events that were taking place nor let me take part in any events(not that it would have mattered in the results sheet)..But it was a great learning experience on handling things and meeting new people.

I have decided to write a few things i learnt from those 5, rather 6 days of fun...

Life is fun during Saarang!!

Rajeev Menon is a nice guy...No i am not gay. Which other biggie would you expect to come half an early and speak to you so nicely and ask you questions like "How is grass amongst the students?"

Never use the cell phone while sitting in first or second row in CLT that too when you are right under the speaker's nose..else risk public embarassment :(

There are some nice people in IITM itself whom i never know existed

I dont know how to flirt. Not that i tried as much as i could have but its a fact

Guys who sit in their room and mug/go home during Saarang are not fit to be here :D

Knowing your co-ord well beforehand helps a lot :D

If the pro show gets boring, dont worry...There's always lots of other things to look out for in OAT

Dean is not a bad guy after all. But the guys who went and provoked Led Zepplica to mouth foul language on camera and are spreading it on lan are idiots.

5 days is just tooooo long for Saarang. 3 is more than enough apart from the initial day

Thats all i can remember as of now...Lets see if there is anything else i can think about to add here..

PS:none of the points are written with specific persons in mind :D

The even sem is back...and so is my (guess what?)

2006-01-07T03:52:00.000-08:00

Its great to enter into a new year!! I do agree with Helmet's views but whatever, wish you (yes you, my dear reader) a (belated) happy new year!! Somehow my heart tells me that this year is going to be a lot better than last year for me personally...I hope its gonna be true for everyone else too

The even sem has something to it that the odd sem just doesnt have...No, i am not talking about saarang or the elections or the hostel nites...Its just something...The something that makes me go into poetry (atleast thats what i call it) writing mode...I wrote my fitting poem a year ago at the same time of january end...and then followed it with a peom about my wing mates...and again this sem, the beginning of the month made me start writing a peom..and here it makes it official debut..



               The Even Sem


The even semester is back,
In events it does not lack;
There is a lot to look forward to,
Enjoy them lest, later, you should rue.

None can refute that the classes are dull,
Unlike others, there aint any hols for Pongal.
The month of Jan is a bolt out of the blue,
The month end is what all look forward to...

Saarang is held all over Republic Day,
Patriotic feelings are all kept at bay;
A festive mood hangs in the air,
'Tis for the MCC girls, most care.

CLT is transformed into Bindaas Park,
The hot spot to look for is no more Quark;
There is music to dance to and informals to play,
Bump into a long lost friend, you sure may.

OAT becomes the stage for budding rock stars,
It also plays host to few music czars;
You just cant be sure who the centre of attention is,
It could be an Anna girl or the MCC miss..

The Pro-Shows draw large audience,
To be hysterical, the mood tends;
Popular events are jam and Miss Saarang,
The audience cheer with the full power of their lungs.

Enough said about IITM's cul-fest,
That some have even come to detest;
The elections are next on the list,
To the prevailing situation, they add a twist.

Campaigning is done, but at what price?
Regionalism rears its ugly head in this exercise;
The posts of cul-secs are fiercely contested,
Apart from anything else, you need a real cool head.

This is soon followed by the hostel nights,
Fun and frolic to go with food and lights;
RGs are prepared and toasts are also made,
Golden memories are preserved, lest they fade.

Talk of apps and placememnts is widespread,
Confused, you find many scratching their head;
Everyone looks forward to IIM calls,
And give treats in restaurants and malls.

As a few seniors take leave,
A big sigh of relief some heave!!
Old memories come rushing back,
Everyone's progress, you try to keep track.

The memories make many teary eyed,
There is no place for the emtions, to hide;
The paucity of time strikes you hard,
With great memories, your mind is scarred.

Freshies and 2nd yrs alike, put hazaar fight,
Become Shaastra or Saarang co-ords, they might;
For many, it is a matter of great pride,
Whether its of any use, only time will decide.

The sun starts beating down in March,
The soil of Mother Earth, it does parch;
Afty classes become even more boring,
While the prof hopes no one is snoring!!

The end sems finish in a week or so,
Non-acad activities reach a new low.
All look forward to the summer hols,
It promises lots of boredom in (the) long haul(s).



and finally, the punch line that adds the much needed masala....

..

..

..

..

..

Sems may come and sems may go, but the great Bhaand is here to stay forever!!

My thanks to all the profs whose boring lectures made writing this poem possible and also to this website which helped me when i was short of words :)

Gaining importance and attracting wide attention

2005-11-29T05:00:00.000-08:00

The choice of topic is kind of weird i agree...i suggest you guess what i am going to write about before actually reading it...makes it kinda fun doesnt it? anyway, you are as jobless as me...or are you are more jobless? hmm...debatable...lets see that later...

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thought what it might be about yet?
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Dint think of anything? you sure must be one lazy bum..let me give you one more chance..put your grey cells to use and think what this post might be about..(let me assure you that i dont like playing around with others time...cos i waste enough of mine itself and i dont want to burden myself with extra sins...this post does contain something and is not just crap..)

Now think..
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ok...guess you must have thought of atleast something by now..else, i give you full rights to apply for the world's most laziest person oscar.

its my blog i am talking about...yup...my blog is gaining importance is attracting attention...from the other corner of the globe!! and it has even contributed to a new word in the English language..:D

the word is "bulb"...the thing we(IITians) are best at during these times...i too was bulbing a lot about what i could write on my blog...till this came along....today morning, out of absolute joblessness and (yup, you guessed it right) bulbing about what to do after a bout of micro mugging...oops, i mean microB mugging, i googled for my name (with a -kumar too because there is this kerala minister k.b.ganesh kumar whose involvement in N other things comes inbetween the results i want to see), something i like doing a lot. there is actually even a name given to this thing...i cant remember it right now...but i am addicted to doing it, whatever it is called. and browsing through the results, most of which were due to my stumbleupon page and my friends on SU, i came across this strange result that had my name and said dictionary citation in the title...curious as to what it was, i follow the link and land up here...on first glance, i bulbed (what else can you expect out of a gib(gib=giveup for the uninitiated) like me?!?). nothing understood, i go to the about page of the site...sort of understood that its a online dictionary maintained by this some guy of new and old english words..and that he reads a lot and whenever he sees a new word, he adds it here...and he somehow has chanced to read my blog (what a priveleged guy he is!!..ok ok, sorry...keep that stick back...i know you want to hit me). and coming across the usage of that great word called bulb, he has decided to add it to his listings... i guess thats what it is...if anyone has the time/fundaes, let me know if its something else lesser(/greater)..

as of now, i shall rejoice in the knowledge of having contributed to the english language!!! :)

IITM mailing lists..

2005-11-14T23:43:00.000-08:00

here we are..at one of the premium institutions in the country..and with the power of computers and internet at our disposal..and this is how we misuse it..

a few mailing lists were created by those in power to cater to the good of everyone who wanted to make important announcements or to send across messages to a select group of students..and this year's freshies have time and again proven that they are the studdest of 'em all..a few glimpses at the kind of mails received in the main mailing list (no, i am not giving you the mail id so that you too could get the chance to spam it)..

First this mail was sent by a kind soul requesting everyone not to use the lists for announcing stuff they lost...

contents of the mail

Hi everybody,
Quite a few of us seem bent upon making this email facility into a lost
and found forum. It makes sense if the item is of critical value like an
interview call letter. However spamming junta over articles ranging from
jewelery to umbrellas is I think a gross misuse. These articles if present
with a student ( in his\her hostel) rather than with the security, itself
should suggest a thin likelyhood of them making way to their rightful
owner.
Please do give some thought over this issue, for I believe it is just a
matter of time before some other enterprising person decide to share his
jokes and other interesting stuff with us all in this facility.
We could probably use the eboard as a place for posting these issues.
Junta please give it a thought.
Finally please dont reply to this mail!
regards

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This mail was dated October 26 when the mailing lists were still in their infancy stage and were in use for only around 2 weeks or so i think...and following this, i guess junta, esepecially the f&^#$ing freshies decided that they must show their might and studness...and thus followed a slew of absolute s#*t.

Mail 1:-

from:CS05B011@iitm.ac.in

Subject:Pouch lost.....-- CRC301

Contents:
Hi everyone,
I lost my pouch on monday 24th Oct. during quizII in CRC 301.
If any one had found it, please mail me back i'll collect it from you.

Thank You,
Naren

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mail 2:-

From:ee03b111@iitm.ac.in

Subject:lost purple coloured umbrella

Contents:
Hi everyone,

I have lost my umbrella (purpled coloured, push up type) at CLT at
10.30 AM after the ITC PPT. If you find it, do please mail me about it
so that I can collect it.

Thanks in advance,

shoaib.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mail 3:

From:mm05b014@iitm.ac.in

Subject:lost my keys

Contents:
my name is hemanth(ataani)....ihave lost my keys on 22nd(saturday) at
dhaba express....it has 4 keys....&the keychain has my name and
address(274c,ganga)written on it...finders please send an sms to the
no.given below
9840478125
i will come and collect them from u.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mail 4:

From:omprakash@iitm.ac.in

Subject:Lost my keys today-reg.

Contents:
Dear All,

I have lost my keys ring today. If any one found please give to Krishna
Hostel security/to me, Om Prakash, # 2037, Krishna Hostel, Cell no.:
9884304852.

I would be thankfull to you.

Sincerely,
Om Prakash

(This one requires special attention..he writes as if his is the only key that could be lost..and if someone finds a key, it can only be his..no identification, no place where it was lost, no nothing..and great english too...i dont want you to be thankfull to anyone)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mail 5:

From:ee05s013@ee.iitm.ac.in

Subject:confirmed ticket for nagpur available

Contents:
hi friends

I have a confirmed ticket from chennai-nagpur on 28th October(tomorrow)
GT Express 1630Hrs. If anybody needs the ticket, contact 09884217052, Room no-301
Cauvery.

Regards
Vivek

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Mail 6:

From:ee04d006@ee.iitm.ac.in

Subject:lost purse with keys,ID card

Contents:
Hai,
I lost my dark-red colour woolen purse with IDcard, keys (room key,vehicle
key, cycle key) and cash in ESB127 on wednesday(19th oct) at 11.00AM.
Finders please return.
sorry for spamming
thanks
saritha
2257 5409
2257 5410

(Who said women are smarter than men? and look at the one but last line...Sorry for spamming)
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Mail 7:

From:rahulbhatta@iitm.ac.in

Subject:Lost Calculator Casio 350 MS

Contents:
Hi

Please take patience to read it.

I have lost a Calculator 350 MS Casio.
It had white marks on the front and the back made with correction ink.
I have lost it in the BSB premises during Quiz II.
If Found please return to
Rahul Bhatta
324 Alakananda Hostel
9840229618
rahulbhatta@iitm.ac.in

Thank You.

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Mail 8: The worest of them all

From:ce05b017@iitm.ac.in

Subject:Regarding ID110 project team

Contents:
hai all,

i didn't form group for ID110 project. so if anybody is there
without forming group, can join me . mail me asap.....

by
k.divakar,
ce05b017,
135,saraswathi

(i took the time to properly bash this guy and sent a proper reply.)

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Mail 9:

From:ce05b031@iitm.ac.in

Subject:lost my cs110 notebook

Contents:
i have lost my cs110 notes during my cs lab. anyone having it plz contact
with me.

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Mail 10:

From:mm05b036@iitm.ac.in

Subject:search for ee01b124@ee01b123

Contents:
If anybody know the hostel and room number of following 2 persons please
reply me soon.
1.EE01B124, Chetan Srinivas
2.ee01b123,shashank.v.maiya[homoboy]
thanks in advance
SENDER: sourabh@iitm.ac.in

[for APPROVING PERSON:
if person who approve messeges is watching this messege after this thrushday
it is adviced to u that reject this messege because its no use after that]

(what the ?!? cant this guy use the mail iitm site search facility or go to the elec department website that has lists of all junta?)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mail 11:

From:muds_agrl@iitm.ac.in

Subject:i have lost my PHY101 notebook

Contents:
i,
i have lost my phy101 notebook some where i don't remmember.
my name and rool no. was written over it.
so if u find it, plz return it to me or just contact me .
thanx,

MUDIT KUMAR
MM05B011
METALLURGY AND MATERIAL ENGG.

CELL NO. - 9884364293

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mail 12:

From:me05b041@iitm.ac.in

Subject:hi plez READ and infrom if any one found i card

Contents:
i lost my identity card some where around crc or cen lib. or near by
saraswahti hostel. if anyine found plez plez return to me ..
i am
rajesh gupta( 1^st year)
ROLL NO. -- ME05B041
mechanical branch
room no. --155
saraswathi hostel.
or just send mail. -- rajoo_iitm@yahoo.co.in
--me05b041@iitm.ac.in
SURELY HAZAR TREAT...
THANKS INFINITE TIME ...

(what? this guy is trying to do an einstein eh? infinite time??
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mail 13:

From:cs05b028@iitm.ac.in

Subject:lost raincoat

Contents:
i hve lost a chocolate coloured medium sized raincoat of duckback last
week in crc205. i lost it during sencond slot. may be found by someone
attending class in the same room in third slot. its a dear one to me. who
ever finds it please contact on 9884304773. treats ensured!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And thats all till now folks!! Want more? just open your smail inbox for all this..it will delivered unfailingly on a daily basis...

DISCLAIMER: All characters, roll numbers and names in this post are true to the best of my knowledge. You, the knowledgeable reader, are highly encouraged to take any of the above spammers to task in case you ever chance to meet them..(a small note:i think many of these gib freshies are from saras..so saras guys, come on..)

(This post proves in entirety the level of joblessness that i am under even though the end sems are just a week away..)

strange yet true...

2005-11-13T22:01:00.000-08:00

its been just a little more than 3 months since i have occupied my own single room..and i havent taken the chance to make it uglier/better by pasting any sort of posters or writing crap on the walls..though i havent had the mind to take off what the senior had left, a shady poster of ronaldinho and a nice one of archies. though i have tried to keep my room clean cleaning it once in a while, nature has not let me keep it clean..the roof of my room resembles a old bungalow rather and the corners are full of dust accumulated over many days. but the point is i finally did stick up something on my wall yesterday..and guess what it was? the end sem timetable..what an irony for someone like me to be sticking the end sem timetable as the first ever thing on my beloved room's walls!!

(DISCLAIMER:This post is merely written to keep up the name and description of my blog and the lack of imagination in my grey cells to think about anything other interesting...

Diwali...Deepavali sounds better

2005-11-02T08:21:00.000-08:00

well, i was realising that i havent blogged (again) for quite sometime now..and with free internet at my disposal( for 21 hours of the day to be more precise), it will be criminal for me not to blog for such a stretch..so, here i go again...

diwali came and went..somehow, i feel deepavali sounds a lot better than diwali..the meaning of deepavali to me has changed a lot over the years...actually, it changes every year..every year, i manange to look at it from a different perspective. Till around 8th, 9th standard, Deepavali meant a lot...waking up(rather being woken up) at 4 O'Clock and having a nice good oil bath, wearing a new dress(that has never enthused me..in fact, i havent got myself new dreeses for my last 3 birthdays i think), bursting crackers when everyone else is sleeping, eating sweets and back to more crackers..the day was real fun. and then came 10th standard..i start paying lot more attention to my acads and slowly started losing enthu for deepavali. though the two(or was it just one?) day holiday for deepavali was a welcome break from the daily routine of school, it only meant that we had assignments or tests the day we went back. and then started the slide in my interest for crackers and deepavali..then came 11th and 12th..absolutely no time for anything else than studies(or so, you have to believe!!). i totally lost enthusiasm for crackers..but still burst a few to humour myself and my parents. most of the day was spent watching tv or doing some leftover assignments from iit classes and calling up old friends and farting away on the phone much to the chagrin of my father. i think we even had classes on deepavali day..

and then over to college..first year, if i remember right, i went home the previous evening and did nothing except eat some grub and that was it..in spite of much pleading from my mom, i dint burst any crackers save a single sparkler. it was the same case the next day. and i felt so much more happy when i was back in campus the next day morning. it felt so much better. this year too was no different..the only thing that had changed from the last decade was the scene of the non-happenings...we had shifted our residence and so, it was a new environ but still, nothing stirred me to go and burst crackers..the enthu was just not there. my mother said we shall celebrate deepavail on monday itself..so was up by 4:30 on monday morning, wore a new dress i had bought the previous day and packed back to campus to attend classes. went back in the evening and farted around watching tv and doing nothing...absolutely nothing. i woke up at 9 (!) on the day everyone else celebrated deepavali. promptly was screwed by my mother. and what did i do in the course of the day? watched two movies, ate loads of stuff, watched the next door people burst crackers and came back to insti by evening. and here again, see junta burst some noisy crackers. all this made me think what the hell do people get enjoyement out of bursting some stupid things that give out colours and loud noise? (read noise not sound) why cant we all celevrate deepavali as a community festival where all of us join together at some common place and watch the show? is that not more than enough?

basically, i couldnt think of anything interesting to blog about and thats how this blog came about..i would have liked to write it in a more relaxed and elaborate manner but then thats not blogging to me..blogging means spontaineity..you just pen down (rather type away) whatever comes to your mind. and so, i let this be. i still wonder when i read the blogs of many others, where the hell do they get the topics to write about and what makes them write the way they do?!? i dont think these questions will ever get answered easily..rather, they should never be.

the day that was...

2005-10-19T11:47:00.000-07:00

today was a very eventful day....started off with the biochem quiz..2 easy ones(of which i couldnt get one :( ) and then one shitty question that needed us to remember fundaes from our last sem courses....now isnt that a little too much to expect from us who scarcely remember what was taught in yesterday's class? to add to the pain, the prof says no to formula sheets that some junta had dutifully prepared and brought to the quiz while he dint care a damn for what was happening in the other class where the second half of the class wrote the quiz..they very happily used the formuale sheet but still, no one managed to get the last sum in their class..shows how painful the prof can be to think of a sum that requires you to remember some crap you did over 3 months ago!! and then, to add insult to injury, he asks the class rep to make a list of those present yesterday and decides to grade only their assignment sheets...man, i am s*it pained...

now, the funny part...we got microB class in E slot and one guy asks me to put proxy while another says yet another has said he will put proxy for this another..i go to class to see this message from another saying he is not gonna come and so i put proxy for him...soon enough, the yet another also messages me asking me to put proxy...hmm, i count..3 proxies plus myself..is this gonna be possible..lets see..attendance starts..i put for another, who is the first no and then myself..now the turn to put for the original one..as i shout yes, another voice from another side of the class echoes my voice..the prof seems to have not noticed this thankfully though there were some moments of silence..and a few score numbers later comes the turn of the yet another..i put it without much ado..the attendance gets over..the prof has a look at the book and then, gleefully announces that the whole class is present today!! she was so elated that it seemed like those teeth were almost popping out!! the whole class bursts into a tiny laughter and most heads turn to me, making me feel as if i was the one responsible for the joy..i guess i was after all :)

it made for some fun after a boring quiz in the morning and more pain from a pain-max prof...the lab in the afty turned out to be longer than usual but was enjoyable as usual...and the fact that there wasnt a quiz on thursday made the evening free for me..all in all, a god day i must say...

2005-10-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

its been a long(read long and i mean, really long) time since i last blogged..and it is showing up on my conscience(yes, i mean it..)..with so many people all round having started to blog and also, those who always blog asking me if i do plan to blog after all, it is pretty shameful if i dont grab this oppurtunity and prove a point or two to my critics.. i declare this to be the beginning of a new era in the history of the fart lair which shall ever remain etched in the annals of history(now dont ask me what this history written with..might be even pens filled with water).

as i write this, it feels like what one feels when school reopens after a long summer vacation..you are eager to get back to school, meet all your friends and ..wait, dont start imagining things on your own..i dint say eager to start studying..and that gives me a good topic to write about i guess..my acads..they have been going downlhill like water that rushes down the slopes of a mountain..the interesting fact is that atleast the river reaches a plain and stays level after that..but what about my acads? the slide started last sem and its been that way ever since..going down and down and down..is there a plain in sight? i hope that its above the 8 mark..seriously, i have never had such a bad time in my life..even the time of my accident was not so worse. i still cant understand whats happening to me..i know that i am not studying as much as i used to but then i just dont feel studying..its become such a boring thing to do..sitting in front of my comp in the comfort of my own room(unlike last sem when it was the comp room which eventually was agreed upon by everyone to be my second(or maybe even first) home) and just listening to songs and madly follow one link to another is so much more interesting..and playing around with different things on my ubuntu offers me endless hours of fun..whereas to sit in a single place and read even 2 pages of a book is so much more painful. i will accept that the comp has to have a fair share of blame in this scheme of things but i am sure that its not just the only thing thats responsible..it is my mindset that needs a sea change..that is just not happening :(

i guess i will leave this topic for now..if i keep talking, i will only be wasting more time..i will try to get back to my highly incomplete biochem notes and see what fundaes i can gather out of it for the C slot quiz on wednesday..

Its the MPD season people!!!

2005-06-20T21:42:00.000-07:00

no comments here...people who know what i am talking about will know...others might soon come to know...

the summer in full swing

2005-05-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

yup..you read that one right..the summer is indeed in full swing..with Agni Natchatram starting last week, the mercury has been hitting the peak everyday..the temperature is soaring beyond the 40°c mark almost everyday. man, this is unbearable to say the least..you feel like locking yourself up in that refrigerator-but then, you wont have anything to eat coz once you are in, all the stuff inside has to come out right? ya, logic works atleast a few times in life :D..

and what to do in life? with everyone else still in college, there's absofuckinlutely nothing to be done other than just laze around the house, play with my dog and chat with my sis over my mobile..i have been thinking of some things to do but havent been able to make a start yet in respect of any of these things...like learning html properly, making my own site(thats been on the backburner since ages now!!) and a lot of other things..no good movies coming either. and that bloody CAS makes sure i cant watch any good stuff on TV..its just lying there coz it ought to be there.

time to crash now..lets see if tomorrow brings up something new and interesting to do in life...

the sem is over and the hols begin....

2005-05-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

The 2nd sem came to a close last week and i have completed one year of IIT life...looking back, its been a very eventful academic year filled with surprises and disappointments in equal measures..it has been, to say the least, one of the most interesting years, if not the most, of my fledgling life of a few months less than 19 years..its been entertaining while also teaching me lots of things(and ya, i have forgotten lots more of what i learnt too but thats a totally different thing). the fact is that i have changed totally over the past year but the sad part is that not many are yet ready to accept this reality. and its been aninteresting experience for me to deal with these kinda people who still believe that i am the ganesh of the old times..

Coming to think of it, i myself find it very surprising how i have metamorphosised..ya i have legally become a major but its the other changes that i am referring to( ya, you know what i am talkin about..my acads)..i just cant believe that i was the same guy who got an AIR of 1472 in JEE and was state 9 in AIEEE(many people have said i dint deserve this but then, i was in TN!!). there are many other things that i can talk about but i dont have the enthu(yes, its enthu not enthusiasm :) )to write an essay here on my blog..shall sign off now but have many more topics to write about throughout these hols of 3 months..after all, i gotta keep myself busy in some way or the other. :D

one looooooooooooooong break...and one more coming up:)

2005-04-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

its been hella lotta time since i have cared to sign in to blogger or check my blog...someone just reminded me that its almost a month since i blogged..and so i dedicate this post to this sincere follower of my blog who cared to have a look at my blog every now and then and inform me of its status...anyway, with end sems up in a week's time and also other stuff to do, blogging takes a backseat for now and i shall be back in form(you know, they always say "class is permanent, form is temporary")...so, keep watching out...it can be anytime after the 4th may....

a post at last!!

2005-03-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

its been loooooooooooong since i have updated my blog.and i decided that today should be the day which breaks this break. couldnt find any specific topic to blog on but still, i have to atleast come close to satisfying my page description. have been upto lot of ed work nowadays. and so it shall be my topic of discussion in this post. "listen carefully gentlemen." as the great man always says..

now there are an array of tools that one uses while doing ED work-from a drafter to a compass to a ruler to a ..its a long list i needn't elaborate on. the most important tool in that list according to me is that white rectangular thing called the eraser. i am sure i use it more than anything else, leaving the pencil and the drafter far behind. people have wondered at my expert use of this small but highly useful thing. i can say for sure my drawings would have been mere pencil scribblings in the eyes of that instructor guy had it not been for my rubber(have always wondered why people prefer this name to an eraser which sounds much better). anyway, a rubber is an eraser is a rubber. i only hope that all the marks that i gained due to my dear eraser help increase my grade atleast by one grade from a highly probable C to a B(ya, if it was from B to A or from A to S, i would be the most happiest person in this world). as of now, let me hope that he gives me a 9 or 9.5 out of 10 as he seems to be doing for everyone else in the present assignment. thats if i finish it by tomorrow afty. but if i am comp room, i will never leave it, let alone getting things done. till next time