Yogesh Sarkar http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog An online journal of my life Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:48:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 yogeshsarkarhttp://feedburner.google.com So who is a Real Biker? http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/yogeshsarkar/~3/8qJ9zvHRNHI/ http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/2012/02/08/so-who-is-a-real-biker/#comments Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:48:00 +0000 Yogesh Sarkar http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/?p=2796 So who is a Real Biker? is a post by Yogesh Sarkar

]]> I have been a part of online motorcycle forums for almost a decade now, and rarely a month goes by, that I see someone or the other claiming to be a “real biker”, while others are termed as posers, squids, commuters and what not.

Which brings me to the title of this blog post, who is a “Real Biker?”

At least in my eyes, one doesn’t have to own a motorcycle of certain capacity or make to be called a real biker (that just makes you the owner of a particular brand/make of vehicle)!

Neither does one need to dress up like a street racer or Hells Angels to be a true biker (although wearing protective gear is a sign of being a responsible biker).

Nor does one need to be a member of biker groups/forums and participate in endless discussions to become a biker (that just makes you an armchair biker).

And although touring on motorcycles is a great way to explore the world, it isn’t a prerequisite to becoming a biker (that just means you get to be a part of the scene, rather than a silent observer from a window).

Nor is the ability to pull wheelies (that just means you know how to save rubber of one of the tyres and offender in the eyes of law).

Or for that matter scrape the foot pegs while cornering (that just means you are good at handling, which lets face it, is a good thing)!

While knowing how to take care of one’s own steed is a good thing, it does not make you a biker (it just makes you almost as competent as the wrench monkey down the street).

To me, being a biker is all about getting on the bike and just riding, whether it is to go to your office, run an errand, take your kids to school or to go to a place far away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Of course the day people stop putting biking or for that matter, any other activity high up on a pedestal and learn to enjoy what they are doing, rather than seek other’s approval. I am quite sure forum owners will see a substantial dip in the number of posts in their forums (which if you are a forum owner like me, is a bad thing).

So forget what I said squid, and make way for the real biker!

So who is a Real Biker? is a post by Yogesh Sarkar

Related posts


]]> http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/2012/02/08/so-who-is-a-real-biker/feed/ 5 http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/2012/02/08/so-who-is-a-real-biker/ Another fuel price hike likely? http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/yogeshsarkar/~3/OXgnufIly_Y/ http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/2012/02/05/another-fuel-price-hike-likely/#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2012 05:01:30 +0000 Yogesh Sarkar http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/?p=2793 Another fuel price hike likely? is a post by Yogesh Sarkar

]]> I was just reading news that another petrol price hike is likely to come, once the elections in the five states are over. And I couldn’t help but agree with that article, even though crude prices are expected to slide down due to lack of demand globally and price of US Dollar going down in the recent days as well!

Because at the end of the day, even though the government might claim that petrol prices are deregulated, fact of the matter is, majority of petrol in India is sold by government run oil companies and these companies have no option but to listen to the government, which in turn is run by the political compulsion of the parties in power. Who let’s face it, are only interested in vote bank politics to get to power and then remain there!

So where does all this leaves consumers like us?

Well to be blunt, we are screwed either way!

If the government does not raise cost of fuel (highly unlikely), it will have to shell out more money from its coffers to subsidize Diesel, Kerosene and LPG. This in turn would deepen the deficit, forcing the RBI to buy more government bonds by printing more money and thus lessening the value of Rupee and causing inflation.

If the government increases the price of fuel, especially diesel, it will have a direct impact on prices and inflation, which has only somewhat slowed down in the recent days.

Add the whole mess Europe and US is creating in Iran (a big supplier of crude oil to India) and the situation looks grimmer than usual. And frankly speaking, the only way out for the common man is to just make more money, which is getting harder and harder to do, each day!

Another fuel price hike likely? is a post by Yogesh Sarkar

Related posts


]]> http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/2012/02/05/another-fuel-price-hike-likely/feed/ 0 http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/2012/02/05/another-fuel-price-hike-likely/ Google fined for providing free maps! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/yogeshsarkar/~3/Q_-5PkrdxlE/ http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/2012/02/03/google-fined-for-providing-free-maps/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:18:08 +0000 Yogesh Sarkar http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/?p=2788 Google fined for providing free maps! is a post by Yogesh Sarkar

]]> A French court has fined Google whopping US$ 660,000 for providing Google Maps for free to businesses in France, because the complainant; a French Mapping Company, Bottin Cartographes, charges a fee and thus saw Google’s free service as predatory and anti-competitive and thus filed a case against it in the French Court and won! (You can read more about it here)

While the court ruling sounds silly to say the least and majority of the people seem to be opposing or laughing at the French Court verdict, it is surprising to say the least, that when Microsoft was prosecuted by the European Union for bundling Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer in Windows, almost everyone was welcoming the move!

google I know Google isn’t Microsoft, but at the end of the day, every company exists to make profit and it isn’t too far fetch of an idea to imagine Google someday actually charging for some or all of the services or at least for the premium variants of the services it provides for free right now (which it has already started doing with Email and Apps).

So if European Union verdict was right, then why isn’t the French one?

Guess it has a lot to do with the fact that Microsoft is seen as evil by quite a few techies and Google for the most part, isn’t! Add to that, people and techies alike, use Google Maps and love them because they are good and free and would want them to remain that way.

In any case, I really do hope that such stupid verdicts (dependent upon perception of what might happen in future) being delivered by the so called anti-completive Courts are not only frowned upon by the society at large (irrespective of whom it is delivered against), but also struck down in due course of time to ensure that end users can take benefit of free services and at the same time, force the companies who wish to charge for their services, to actually think outside the box and innovate to justify their often hefty price tag!

Google fined for providing free maps! is a post by Yogesh Sarkar

Related posts


]]> http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/2012/02/03/google-fined-for-providing-free-maps/feed/ 0 http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/2012/02/03/google-fined-for-providing-free-maps/ Printing photographs at home http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/yogeshsarkar/~3/k_RPovw7SxE/ http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/2012/02/01/printing-photographs-home/#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:48:30 +0000 Yogesh Sarkar http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/?p=2783 Printing photographs at home is a post by Yogesh Sarkar

]]> Ever since I came back from my winter trip to Ladakh, I have been trying to print some of the photographs at home (to send them back to our driver), using my Canon MP 287 Printer.

It is an inkjet printer and not really all the economical either, however the last thing I want to do is take some of my best photographs in high resolution, that too without any copyright marks and hand it over to some stranger at the local photo lab or an online one (call me paranoid, but with so many rampant copyright violations, I am just not willing to take this chance).

Biggest problem with printing at home is that you are never sure how the colors and sharpness would turn out, especially in case of RAW photographs and an uncalibrated monitor (haven’t been able to get it right by manually calibrating it, hence have left it as it is for the time being).

Thankfully, out of the several photographs I have printed in past few days, only one has turned out bad and only one which wasn’t sharp enough and that was before I got working on the below workflow, which has not only made printing at home easier for me, but also gotten my quite decent results.

So at this moment, this is what my printing workflow looks like:

  1. Adjust the color temperature, exposure, picture style (standard looks great) and remove CA and color blur using Canon’s Digital Photo Professional Software and then export the processed RAW image as 16bit TIFF to Photoshop.
  2. Adjust levels and curves (usually only slight correction is needed).
  3. Resample the photograph to 6”x4” using the image size tool with pixel density set to 300 per inch.
  4. Sharpen the photograph with USM with the following settings; 0.7 radius, 300% strength and 1 threshold.
  5. Convert the image to 8bit and CMYK color profile.
  6. Export as JPEG with maximum quality.
  7. Open the processed image in Canon’s Easy PhotoPrint EX software and print a border less photo with high quality and image enhancement feature turned on, on a HP Glossy 6”x4” Photo Paper.

While I am sure professionals would likely do a slightly better job, this way I am not only in total control of the output and learning how to process for print, I can also be sure that my photographs aren’t going to turn up in some table top calendar, without my permission!

Printing photographs at home is a post by Yogesh Sarkar

Related posts


]]> http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/2012/02/01/printing-photographs-home/feed/ 0 http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/2012/02/01/printing-photographs-home/ BCMTouring Travelogue of the Year 2011 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/yogeshsarkar/~3/firV5OFzBrs/ http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/2012/01/31/bcmtouring-travelogue-of-the-year-2011/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:40:02 +0000 Yogesh Sarkar http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/?p=2780 BCMTouring Travelogue of the Year 2011 is a post by Yogesh Sarkar

]]> Hunt is on to find BCMTouring’s Travelogue of the Year 2011 and with several hundred new travelogues added last year by fellow BCMTians, it is no easy task!

It is also the time when best of the best come to the fore and members as well as the moderation team gets to see some of the really jaw dropping, hair raising and enchanting travelogues, which we might have otherwise missed. That is one of the reason, I eagerly await each year for January to arrive and for the hunt to begin.

Of course this year (like always) we have gone ahead and tweaked the rules a bit. Well, actually we have completely flipped the rules upside down and come up with a new format to lessen the pain and tension for the members and raise it several times for the moderation team, who would now be forced to pick 10 travelogues as best of the category/region, which is going to be no easy task, especially due to the love and passion with which BCMTians share their experiences, which not only reflects in the writing itself, but also in the photographs.

So come be a part of the hunt, and let us know, which travelogues took your breath away by participating in the Nomination Round of BCMTouring’s Travelogue of the Year 2011.

BCMTouring Travelogue of the Year 2011 is a post by Yogesh Sarkar

Related posts


]]> http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/2012/01/31/bcmtouring-travelogue-of-the-year-2011/feed/ 0 http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/2012/01/31/bcmtouring-travelogue-of-the-year-2011/