Monday, December 26, 2011

Award Shaward

I have been spending my last couple of weeks moving from One house to another, err.. make that.. One City to Another... err better make it.. One Country to Another...How about .. From One Continent to Another..


Yaa.. that sounds about right..


So after I settled down and finally got a Internet connection going, I was pleasantly surprised to see a comment on a post from Sowmya Swaminathan informing me that she has awarded me The Versatile Blogger award..







The rules of the Versatile Blogger Award are as Follows:
1. Award 15 Fellow Bloggers
2. Inform the Bloggers of their award
3. Share 7 random things about yourself
4. Thank the Blogger who awarded you
5. Add the Versatile Blog Award picture to your blog post


Pffft... Rules.. Who needs them...


I don't know if I have 15 Bloggers to be awarded but here goes nothing..



1. Pooja Sridhar 
2. Shasha and Ashu
3. Aakriti Malik
4. Ashish Hablani
5. Aswathy Mohandas
6. Seetha Lakshmi K R
7. Ashwini


I guess that's it for now.. I will update this as and when I can..


Ohh.. almost forgot.. 


8. Bow and Tie (Of Course)


Next Thing to do: 7 Random things about me:





1. I am Shit Scared of Jokers.. Of the Toy Kind.. Which look like Raj Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker.
Why you ask me ? .. Ok even if you dont ask me I am going tell you anyways. 
This Phobia caught hold of me when as a young boy (I am still young.. But again I Digress) I first saw the Movie Mera Naam Joker, In the end when Raj kapoor is in some kind of cave with that Joker Doll.
He keeps the doll down on the ground and the Doll starts to walk and Sing with its Arms outstretched. 
Are you kidding me. A freaking horrific looking joker doll moving and singing and coming towards you with it's arms outstretched.
Who wouldnt be afraid of that ???
(Ok.. I know many of you won't) .. But does'nt matter.. I am. Period.






2. I cook really well. (Again, as many have not eaten my cooked food, I dont know how far that's true)
But I don't give a Horse's Behind. I like my cooked Food. THE END.


3. My friends say I have a really short attention span. But I like to say that I multitask.
Example: I would be sitting on my bed, with my laptop on, In front of my Laptop I would have a Paper Book open (Whatever I am reading then)
On the Laptop, I would have a Browser with atleast err...10 Tabs at a time.
Also a Movie would be playing on the laptop, in a small window, so that I can read on the browser and see the movie at the same time.
Also there would be an eBook open on the laptop. (Something which I didnt/couldnt buy in paper)
Also there would be a Game minimized on the laptop, which I would be playing at intervals of every 15 minutes or so. (And no I dont mean Solitare)


4. I love animals. All kinds of them. From creepy crawlies to cute pups to menacing cats to birds to what not.
Seems like animals are so much better then many people I know.


5. I prefer fizzy colorful drinks over coffee.


6. I cant make up my mind about anything. Every decision I take would have been changed about err.. N number of times.


7. I like to write , and I know I write like crap, I know my shortcomings, But I dont want to change.
Who the dash are you to judge me. This is how I write and that's me.


So let me see, what else is left ? Ohh ya.. Thanks Sowmya :)




THIS IS COSMIC BLASTING OFF !!!!!!!!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Android Ice Cream Sandwich and Google Talk

I don't always posts about anything related to Technology on my Blog (I keep that for Google+ )


But this time around I am making an exception where I am posting a rant which I made on Google+ here, as this is extremely frustrating for me.


I am an Android User


Rant Follows:



Frustrating new Google Talk in Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0


Hoping someone from Google reads this


And If I am missing something very obvious here, feel free to bash/corect me


I am currently running an Alpha Build of ICS on my HTC Desire.
One of my most used apps on Android is Google Talk.


It look brilliant in ICS now with all the small tweaks to UI Bravo for that


But there is one new Feature which is rendering the whole app useless for me.


The versions available till now (Gingerbread) have had a feature where you can View your friend list either by So-called Most-Popular or All Contacts.


Where Most-Popular would show you some contacts who (I am assuming) Google thinks you communicate with the most 
(Although in my case it displays people who I never-ever IM, So this list is utterly useless for me)


And All Contacts would display a list of All your Contacts sorted by Availability. (Which I always use)


Now in the lastest Gtalk which comes bundled with ICS there have been few changes:


You can view your Contacts using Most-Popular but now you have the option to sort them by Availability or Recency


Screenshot: 






But both of these options are still useless to me as the people who are displayed are the ones who I never chat with. 
Or Email for that matter, So I have no ides how or why they are in my Most Popular List


Screenshot : 






And Another Option is: Name All Friends


Screenshot :






With ICS this has also been rendered completely useless for me as this option now displays All my friends as before  , but Sorts them using their name.


So I end up with a list of Contatcs who are Sorted Alphabetically by name but are all offline.


And the people who I really want to chat with and are also available are buried somewhere down below in the long list.


Screenshot: 








Does anyone know if I am being a Dumbass and missing some option here ? 


Or if this is how GTalk supposed to be in ICS. Then sorry to say, It's completely useless to me now.


And I really really want to continue using Gtalk and not any alternates


THIS IS COSMIC BLASTING OFF !!!!!!!!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

I am Complan Boy

Teacher: If there are 10 Giraffes in a class room and each of them shakes hand with the other 9 Monkeys, What will the amount of rainfall on the Moon ?


Student: Maam, The correct Answer is Batman shot the Sheriff.


Teacher:  Wooww...that’s absolutely correct. How did you know?


Student: Coz I am a Complan Boy !!


Moral of the Story: 
Please be careful when crossing the street.







P.S. - WHAT ?? !!! You thought at some-point this would make some sense ? Did you ?

P.P.S. - Aaahh... FISH IT !! ... Yes this does have a hidden meaning. Now go away and come back when you figure out what it is

THIS IS COSMIC BLASTING OFF !!!!!!!!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Chotu THE GIANT - Introduction

He came into my life, when I was carefree.
When I did not worry about what path my future is going to take.
What I would do in my life.
Where I would be 10 years from then.

I met him for the first time on that Winter Night in a small village called Simga, He was so happy on seeing me as if we are long lost friends, even though that was the first time we ever met.

I would like to say I knew it then that this was going to be the beginning of a wonderful life long friendship. But that would be a lie.

"Hansie" - as he was known back then (after the cricketer) was supposed to stay with my dad in Simga, while me and mom lived in Raipur (owing to my education).

So I was only going to meet Hansie once a month. Over a weekend. And that's how it began.



He would never leave my side whenever I was in Simga, always there:
Sitting under the bed I was lying on, 


Let me see what's under the bed
Or sprawled under the chair I was sitting on: 

Yup, I am still here

Or following me from one room to another and whenever I turned around, he would always be there. Standing with the intrigued look on his face, waiting to see what I would do next and how he can help.



Hey there !!
Soon after seeing how much I was attached to Hansie and he to me, Me and mom decided to take him with us to Raipur

Since he was smaller then most of the other dogs, I started calling him Chotu, and then that became his name for life.

He was the most friendliest dog that anyone had ever seen. Guard Dog.. Pftt.. No way.. not my Chotu.


He loved people. He adored being around as many people as possible. 
If you were a stranger and would come to my house. He would welcome you in.
He would sit in the middle of the room, surrounded by all guests as long as they were around.


But once you started to leave. MAN O MAN, all hell would break lose.
Chotu would not want you to leave. He would shout/scream/bark at you to urge you to stay more. According to him: "Why can't everyone stay with him. The more the merrier."


Otherwise he would never bark, forget about biting at anyone or any other dog at all.
When he would go out for his walks with me. The rest of the dogs on the street would bark at non-stop. But Chotu.. Nooo.. he would never respond. He would go about his walk merrily without a single care in the world.


His only enemy in the world were Lizards. Yes the common Wall Lizard which we have all over India, in almost every house.
If Chotu ever got to see a Lizard on the wall in any room. Boy O Boy would he get pissed. He would start jumping and barking at the lizard non-stop , Until someone (mostly me) would come and shoo the lizard away.

Most of the times, the lizard would hide behind a Wall Clock or a Tubelight. But Chotu when he couldn't see the lizard any more, he thought the lizard went to the other side of the wall. He would run to the adjacent room, to check the wall on the other side and make sure that the lizard didn't come out there.



Rats/Mice, He chased them around all day. Trying to catch them. He would duck under furnitures, get inside Cup-boards to catch hold of them.


And it's only once that I remember that he actually one. I remember he came to my room sheepishly after I heard him running around.

When I looked at him, all I could see was that he had a small tail dangling out of his mouth. I thought, that he would have killed the tiny mouse.

But Noo. He sat down at his usual place under my bed, Gently  pushed out the small mouse from him mouth, mildly held the mouse under his small paw and started licking him lovingly. In the same cute/loving manner that only a dog can lick somone he likes.


After a lot of love and affection towards, he finally let it go and the mouse scampered away under some chair, once again to be chased by Chotu









He was my little friend, and he considered himself to be my Big Brother. He was extremely protective of me.


He would sit at the door in my room and not allow anyone to get in.
If anyone spoke to me in a loud noise, they would need to go through Chotu first, he would start barking, snarling and jumping up and down at them.


And if worst comes to worst, he would grab hold of the bottom of your pants and start pulling you away. 
(One of the reasons he didn't like my brother, Coz he wore Shorts and chotu was not tall enough to grab hold of his pants)


His behaviour with each member of the family was different. 
With me: I was his little brother, a child. And he was my guardian, protector.
With my mom: He was the little one.
With my Dad: He was a brat. He would shout at my dad to get what he wanted and get his way.


Example: For his morning walks, If I was in the house, He would come and sit near my bed from 4-5 AM. And he would wait.

He would wait patiently until the time I woke up, never once disturbing me in my sleep. And once I finally wake up (whenever that would be). He would follow me around. From me brushing my teeth, to me going to the bathroom. He would sit outside the bathroom waiting for me to come out.



He had this peculiar habit. If he didn't see me going into the bathroom. First he would run around the whole house trying to find me, and then when he found my scent, he would try and push his little nose under the bathroom door to sniff and see if I am there.
And he would continue pushing his nose under the door. Until I called out to him and satisfied his query that I was indeed inside.



Once I was lazily ready to go for his walk, he would then jump around and we would go out together.


But if I was not at home, with my dad he had a completely different Morning Walk routine. He would start jumping up and down and tugging at my dad at 5 AM. Asking him to get up and take him for a walk. He would be relentless until he got his way.



I guess he particularly liked Cats, Once a Cat gave birth to a litter of kittens in our garage.


The kittens were really tiny and we were all afraid to let Chotu out in the house as we thought he might go and hard the kittens.


But one day he escaped out and after some time we found him patiently sitting near the kittens keeping guard. :)


We took him inside, but once he knew where the kittens were he would always find the opportunity to run back to them and sit quietly.


If we locked him inside the house, he would jump on sofas, climb on beds to poke his head out of the window until he could find a place from where he could keep an eye on the kittens.


So yes, He was a Guard Dog.... A Dog who guarded Kittens :)





P.S. - I started writing this post on 22 September 2011, Never thought I would publish this.
It is incomplete, and I guess it always will be..



To be Continued....


THIS IS COSMIC BLASTING OFF !!!!!!!!