The Best Years of my Life

My good friend and CEO came by my cube last Friday to wish me in advance and ask me how I felt, now that I was about to cross the quarter century milestone. I looked and him and smiled. My whole life so far zipped past me.

I felt like I was leaving behind the best years of my life. A part life which I had never taken so seriously, but still remains the best remembered in my life of all the other parts. I wish I could relive some of them again someday. I have changed a lot some would say, but friends really close to me tell I haven't changed a bit. I have picked up many good habits, and maybe a few bad ones too along the way. I have had many happy moments which would always remain imprinted in my mind forever. First time I was recognized in front of everyone at school, first time I lived on my own away from my parents, my first crush, first time I was on a stage, my first.. no OUR first hugely successful science project, first time I stayed in a hostel, my first infatuation, my last days at school, the going away parties, first time slogging for over 14 hours a day, first time I felt free after junior college, my days in undergrad, the practicals and the viva's, days spent at the canteen or at movie theaters away from classes, the day I got my student visa, the day I landed here in US, when I got my first part time job, the day I got my first paycheck, the summer holidays, the projects and the impossible people we had to deal with at school, my first football game, the day I got a job offer, the day I left school, my graduation, my first big paycheck, the day I bought my car, the weekends and the parties, the long drives and the adventures. Yes I will remember them all.


The journey has been long and sometimes tiring, although I have enjoyed most of it, just as I enjoy my long drives. I did pick up a lot of friends on the way, some of who will remain with me forever, while others might not. Some of them rode on along with me for a while which seemed but like the blink of an eye. I wish some of them to have stayed longer, but their destination had come and they had to go.
Well anyways, I told my CEO that I felt like I was getting old, and he started laughing. He said I have a long life ahead. Heck he's close to 50 and still thinks that he has a long way to go. He said it doesn't matter how old you are, what matters is the quality of life you have lived, with happiness and joy, without regrets, remembering the good old times and always looking forward. I do have some regrets, but otherwise I have lived a happy life so far. Life is long, and it just keeps going on and on. Although I feel like I am leaving behind the best years of my life, the truth is, to quote one of my friends "It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives".

-- Life is a journey, not a destination, happiness lies along the way, and not at the end of the road, for then, the journey is over and 'tis too late.

For Mumbai

This is in Memory of those who lost their lives in Mumbai between 26'th November 2008 and 28'th November 2008.

Childhood ...

No..no .. You be the mommy and I'll be the baby ... You have to feed me ...
No ... I want to play princess, not mommy ...
OK, lets go and play something else then.
Shall we play hide and seek, theres so much place back there. There will be so many hiding places.
No lets play house house.
But we play that all the time...

You guys must be wondering "what the heck am I reading here" ... Well actually these were the exact words spoken by a bunch of lovely kids at the restaurant the other day when I went for dinner. There was lots more, but sadly, I can't remember any more. It must have been a party or something. Four families were occupying the four tables in the center of the restaurant, the parents occupied two tables while the kids were having the time of their life on the other two. They were all having dinner when I had first entered and written my name down for the maitre d to seat our group. By the time I was sitting at my table, the kids had finished and were running around playing all sorts of kids games. My best guess, they were all between 5-6 years of age.
Yes, I like kids. I love them. Its fun listening to them. They come up with all sorts of strange ideas for everything. They don't care for anything that doesn't concern them. Sometimes they don't even care if it's something that concerns them, 'coz what else are parents for. Enjoying a bindass life with no worries of yesterday, today or tomorrow or of anything for that matter. Aah... I wish I can go back in time.

The Glass Should Always be Half Full

Often times in life, when asked if one is optimistic or pessimistic, many people answer the question without knowing how they actually perceive life, pessimistically or optimistically. I'm an optimist and I consider it an integral part of being happy in life and achieving what you want. How can you be sure if you are one or the other? Let me give you a simple example.
A guy wants to learn driving. He has driven motor bikes before but never a car. When the instructor asks him to get inside the car and give him a demo of how good he is without any training, he becomes nervous. Thoughts start racing in his mind. He has never driven a car. He doesn't know how to use the gear shift. How hard should he press the breaks, is it very different than bikes. How hard should he turn the steering wheel. What if he hits something in the first run. What if the instructor gets a bad impression about him the first day itself.
Well, so you get it, right. The first feeling that one gets in such situations, says it all. Let us look at the other type. When asked to show a demo, he feels a sense of euphoria and great excitement. He thinks now is the chance to show the instructor that he's better and different than his other students, as he has experience riding his bike. He know when and how hard to use the breaks and accelerator from his experience. Both are machines and both run on similar mechanisms, so it should be easy and he could learn really fast. He could make a really good impression. Again his feelings say it all about his approach towards life.
This might seem very trivial. So let me give you another example. A girl and a boy have been good friends for some time. The girl is thinking that its time to take their friendship ahead to a new relationship. She thinks, she knows the guy so well, so why not. She knows what he likes and dislikes. She knows his taste in food, she knows his taste in music. She knows he's a book lover just like her, she knows that he respects her, trust her and believes in her. More importantly she knows what kind of a person he is and the way he looks at life, his ambitions, goals, how he treats other people, friends or not etc etc. So why should she not take the relationship forward.
But the guy looks at it completely differently. He knows a lot about her but theres so much more that he doesn't know too. He doesn't know anything about her family, he doesn't know if all these feelings that they have been having are just spur of the moment or something genuine. He doesn't know her way of living, as they have never lived together, they have just been good friends, hanging out a lot more with each other than with somebody else. Can he trust her, does she really believe in him, or were they just empty words that she spoke. Isn't it too early to be thinking about a relationship. Questions like these plaque his mind, and hes confused and not able to take a decision.
To the guy, I would tell him to learn to trust people, and never to think that the glass is half empty. Stop worrying about tomorrow and don't think too much about yesterday. Bask in the warmth of today.
To the girl, I would say its great that she thinks positively about life and a life partner, but she should never let the thought, that the glass is ONLY half full, slip from the back of her mind. I can give you more examples but I guess you get the gist of it.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. -- Mark Twain

Congratulations

Congratulations to Barack Obama on winning the 2008 Presidential Election.

Old Hobbies ...

Yaaay ... Remember I once said that, there are so many childhood hobbies that I would like to start again ... and one of them was painting ... So last week I decided to finally start it again ... not painting exactly but sketching ... so here's my first sketch in the last 6 years .... Looks like I still have a little talent left :) ...

Click on the picture for higher resolution ....

The first half ... took about 2 hours ...


Completed ... took about 3 hours total ....

Reality Check Again

We all like to think that we have some control over the events in our lives, and a lot of the time we can fool ourselves into thinking that we really are in charge. But then something happens to remind us that the world runs by its own rules and not ours and that we're just along for the ride...

-- Allie Kyes from Taken

The Art of Parting

I finally found the article that I promised you I would find. Yes I'm talking about my tenth class English composition about the art of saying goodbyes. No, I didn't google it :), although that was the first thing I tried and it showed me some really weird results. I know few of you guys and gals, with whom I had the pleasure of sharing my last few memorable days at school, do follow my blog. I hope you will be happy to read this beautiful article, which was one of the few last amazing compositions given to us by Padmaja Ma'm, again. So here it goes,

Everyone wants to make a good first impression. But have you ever thought the importance of the last impression? A well delivered farewell can secure a friendship forever. A well chosen exit line can close a business deal.
In any walk of life, dealing with partings partings positively and optimistically is not just a matter of good form, it is the way to make the last impression as memorable as the first. There's an art to leave taking and it can be learned. Good byes should be imprints of individual personalities. If you are the strong silent type, you don't have to be flowery or sentimental. A firm handshake, a straight look in the eye, or a simple "I'll miss you" is enough. The essential thing is to make the moment an impression of yourself and your feelings.
Goodbyes mark important changes. A goodbye signals a change, and change is rarely easy... Sometimes it breaks our hearts. When we sever ties with people, places and things we love,a thread of our own being is cut.
Goodbyes needn't always be in words. When you are tongue tied, a simple embrace or kiss is more poignant than overripe words. Touch has always been the most magical means for sealing people together. They can be momentous. The most meaningful goodbye gift is imbued with some measure of yourself. They come from the heart.
The final goodbye, of course, is death. Often the one departing has no chance to big farewell (really ...! :).. I very vividly remember saying this in my head during that exam). Few of us can compose a farewell statement eloquently, but then, we don't have to. All we need to do is speak honestly and sincerely from our hearts. That's the real secret of Good Byes.

I don't know if my English teacher has written this on her own or taken it from somewhere else. All credits go to the original creator of this article. Any comments will be most appreciated. Here's a nice song to go with it.

Reality Check ...

When everything in your life is right on track, it's easy to believe that things happen for a reason; it's easy to have faith. But when things start to go wrong then it's very hard to hold on to that faith. It's hard not to wonder whose reasons these things happen for.
-- Allie Kyes from Taken

Qwerty n Me ...

Once upon a time (really long long ago), I used to wonder, why the hell would some one call a keyboard with that name. Who the hell coined that word, such a peculiar word. How did he even come up with such a queer combination of letters. Then one day as I sat in front of my screen, thinking hard what to type, qwerty was staring back at me and laughing its heart out. Hahahaha ....

Rain Rain Come Again ...

I stepped out of my house early in the morning and found the streets drenched in rain. It was beautiful with overcast skies, a cool breeze and a very pleasant temperature. Felt so fresh early in the morning. Went in, put on my shoes and went for a long run. I wish its like this everyday. Hey I even got a free car wash :P.

First Impressions ...

I guess you all know the importance of first impressions. One should always make a very good first impressions as it will take him/her a long way. But I have begun to doubt if it can be relied upon. I think (its my opinion, if you don't agree, then I don't care.), that the first impression should not be given so much of an importance. Why, you ask. Because, it is often misleading if not complete. People put on fake impressions just so they are able to achieve whatever it is that they are striving for.
In my opinion, its the last impression that should take the limelight. For example, when you leave a job, its very important that you leave the right way. My manager, Tony (The best and only manager I ever had) keeps telling me this over and over again. Not that he suspects that I may leave, but just so I know. Its very important that you never leave in the middle of a project that you are a part of (If you can help it that is). And even when you leave, its very important that you make sure that the person who's filling in your shoes, finds it really easy to do what ever you used to do. If you do otherwise, then no matter how good you were at work, people are going to bitch about you a lot for making their lives miserable.
Not only a job, but say even when you leave school and say good bye to your friends. You should make sure that you take their contacts and gives yours to them. You talk to them or not later, thats a completely different matter. What matters is that you let them know that you care about them enough to ask for their contact info and give them yours. Why contact info?? Well, thats what came to my mind right off the bat and I mentioned it. It can be anything to let them know that you valued their friendship. A memorable gift or may be a going away treat... yaaay... I am all up for that one....
What I want to emphasize is that, the memories of the last impression, live longer than the first impression. In some cases they are eternal. And the if the last impression that you left was not a good one, then even though the first impression might have been extraordinary, it does not matter any more. The last opinion that they have of you is tarnished and completely different now and it would remain that way till you take the effort to change it.
So my dear friends and readers, no matter which walk or aspect of life it is, always make that extra effort to learn the art of saying good bye the way it should be said and done. That reminds me of a very nice english composition we had when I was in 10'th standard "The art of saying good bye". Don't worry, I'll hunt it down for your benefit :).

Love ...

No it's not mine. And I dunno who wrote it either but I like it a lot ...

A kIsS iS jUsT a KiSs,
TiLl, YoU fInD tHe OnE yOu lOvE.
a HuG iS jUsT a HuG,
tIlL, iTs ThE oNe YoU aRe ThInKiNg oF.
a DrEaM iS jUsT a DrEaM,
tIlL, yOu MaKe iT cOmE tRuE.
LOVE iS jUsT a WoRd,
tIlL, iTs PrOvEn To YoU.

Will Update Soon ...

So sorry for the long long absence guys. A lot has been going on in my life and I also have been super duper busy with a lot of work load. I promise that I will post an update very soon. Prolly this weekend. Thanks for your patience.

Love ya all,
Naren

Virtualization: veeDee Eyes

A little class on Virtualization first:

Virtualization is abstraction of your Hardware resources. There are different kinds of Virtualization. See Wikipedia if want more details. What does this mean to a regular computer user? Well, you run a piece of software called Virtualization software, that allows you to share your computer hardware between two different Operating Systems at the same instant. In even simpler terms, you run an OS from within a window while you are booted into a different OS. This software basically sits between your hardware and System Software (OS). The OS that is running the Virtualization software is called, “Host OS"” and the OS’s you run further on your Virtualization Software are called “Guest OS’s”. You usually boot into your regular Host OS, Fire up the Virtualization Software and then run your “Guest OS”. Simple huh?

Now, usually, you have to install the “Guest OS” on your hard drive before you run it using the Virtualization Software. This might not be very appealing to some of you folks, for various reasons. Imagine the hassle of partitioning your hard drive, installing a new OS, etc. That’s where "veeDee Eyes” comes in.

veeDee Eyes will let you run the operating system off of a single “VDI” file. So, no changing your partition table, no installing a new operating system. Just run VirtualBox and point to the “VDI” file to start running Linux on your Windows machine.

That’s enough for a class. Let get moving.

Stuff you need:

• Sun xVM VirtualBox. (Get it here)
• Some tool that can extract “rar” files. (Get 7-Zip here)
• VDI file for the operating system you want to run. (You will need a BitTorrent client to get that file)

You are well on the way to be running Linux on your Windows machine. Hit this link for a detailed walk-through.

New York - The Pictures Say it All

Click picture for a better view

Dreaming a Dream (Part III)

Read part I here
Read part II here

Unlike the first jolt as the train was moving at a considerable speed now. It was so strong that some people sitting on top almost lost their balance and one big dude (big as in muscular) who was napping fell off his chair. Luckily for us, he held onto the railing and didn't fall down. There was another big sound like a small gas canister exploding and then loud scraping noises. The whole train car was shaking vigorously and all the bags and luggage were flying in the air. It was a perfect chaos and people were screaming all around. He looked at Urvi, she had her eyes shut tight and looked scared. He looked at his reflection in the window and saw the frightened expression on his face. He was holding onto the armrest tightly and Urvi had her hand on his again, her nails digging deep into his hand. He let out a shout but it was drowned in all the chaos and no one took notice. His felt his adrenaline pumping as the big dude fell down near his feet onto some overly stuffed bags (thank god he didn't get hurt).
He felt the train slowing down, but the noise and the vibrations did not abate yet. Finally after fifteen agonizing minutes, the train came to a stop and there was dead silence all around. Everyone looked at each other for a moment and then began collecting their belongings hurriedly. He turned to look at urvi. She still had her eyes tightly shut and fear gripping her beautiful face. Her hand was still clutching his tightly. He lightly put his other hand on top of hers, she opened her eyes, looked around in a daze and then let go of his hand. It was numb with pain. He looked out the window and saw that the train had stopped at that unused station that he used to pass by everyday. He got off his chair and held out his hand for her. They moved towards the door cautiously trying not to trip over someone or something when they heard another loud explosion and saw fire at the end of the train carriage. It was pandemonium all around again.
He saw a couple people trying to open the emergency windows without luck. What an irony but it looked like they were shut tight from lack of use. He hurried towards the other door aways from the creeping fire and tried to wrench it open without any luck. Urvi was crying. His face started to burn from the heat of the fire. The big dude asked him to move over, took a step back from the door and rammed straight into it. It gave away at the hinges but still held tight. This time dhruv rammed it hard along with the big guy and as the door gave way, he fell head first out onto the gravel and twas all darkness.


He felt slight pain on his forehead and felt a bump with his hand. He opened his eyes and was surprised to find urvi staring right into his face.
'How are you feeling now?'
'I feel much better, thanks for the ice.'
'My pleasure, twas the least I could do.'
He still felt hot, maybe twas because of the big bump on his head. He got off the strether and they walked away towards the exit.
'Man that was the scariest experience I ever had in my whole life.'
'Yes, mine too. I don't know if I would ever be able to travel by train without being scared again.'
'Well, I think I better get going now. It was really nice meeting you today Urvi. I will surely remember you for a very very long time.'
She laughed and held out her hand. 'It was really nice meeting you too dhruv. Thank you for everything.'
They stood there looking at each other for a while when she suddenly spoke out,
'A very long time huh ?'
'Will you ?' Or should it've been won't you, he pondered in his mind.
She was silent again for what seemed like eternity to him 'I don't feel like going to work anymore today, I think I have had enough for one day.'
'Me too, do you want to have a cup of coffee?'
'Oh yeah, I sure want to.' Thank god, finally he asked, she thought.
'Let me make a call to my work first.'
As he put the phone to his ear, he felt something cool on his face, and it started to rain.
Suddenly, he heard a loud bark and opened his eyes. He had fallen down from his bed onto the heater vent, had a big bump on his forehead and his dog was licking his face all over.

Why We Fight

I was watching this show on discovery today about the latest and greatest in weapons technology. It was a one hour program which started with a small hand held missile launcher, followed by a gun which could bend and shoot around corners, a technologically advanced tank which could fire every 2 seconds or so and ended with the latest stealth fighter plane which could fly at mach 1.6 and and collect any kind of surveillance information and destroy anyone who dares to even detect it. I did not get the figures for others but the development of the plane was a 2 billion dollar project.
At the end of the show, I sat down and thought, why? Is this another weapons race in the making? Every country trying to better the others in developing more lethal weapons which could kill more and more people and make the land where it lands inhabitable. On the whole, my question was why do we fight? Naturally I turned to the internet to find out how it all began, the weapons manufacturing and this weapons race, I mean. The search for the term "why we fight" on google resulted in this following video which gave me too much information than I needed about the military of this era. Its a long movie and would sure surprise you if this is the first time you are watching it.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Firefox Download Day

Hello Folks!

Today is Firefox Download Day. Mozilla is trying to set Guiness World Record for "Most downloaded software in a single day". The new Firefox 3.0 has a lot improvements over the previous versions. Here's why you should download Firefox3 right now.

Firefox 3.0 will be available for download from 10am PDT 17 June 2008. That is today.
And what's more, even Google has finally released Google Toolbar compatible with Firefox 3.0. Pretty neat if you ask me. They released it even before 10am PDT.

Download your copy of firefox here. The website seems to be busy.
Here's the URL again: www.getfirefox.com.

Dreaming a Dream (Part II)

Read Part I here

He first smelled the intoxicating perfume that drifted in the air, and then he looked up and ... just kept looking. Twas the most beautiful face he had ever seen (at least in real life). A beautiful round innocent face with perfect skin and no makeup at all (Jeeeez... He hated when girls put excessive makeup), with beautiful flowing silky black (slightly brown) hair all the way down below her shoulders. Her eyes, the hazelnut colored eyes full of eagerness were the best feature by far. He kept looking at her. She put on a frown and started speaking. He suddenly jolted back to reality when she patted his shoulder again. He sheepishly took out his earphones and mumbled an apology and got up to let her in. She smiled and sat down. She took out a book and started reading (confessions of a shopaholic). He was looking at her and was thinking of saying hi, some conversation to kill time during this boring journey, but it didn't look like it would work out. He sank back into his seat as the train gave an unusually big jerk as it moved. He slipped and she slipped. He put his hand on the armrest just as she put hers onto his and held on tightly. As the train moved on and she removed her hand and apologized. This was his chance.

'No, not a problem. That was an unusual jolt. Did it scare you?'
'Yeah, that was unusual.' She seemed embarrassed to admit she was frightened.
It sure scared the hell out of me' he said.
'Yeah, I was a bit shaken too. Hi, I'm Urvi'.
'I'm Dhruv. Do you travel by this train every day?'
'Why do you ask?' Gosh this girl. What 'll she lose if she tells.
'I travel by this train everyday but I've never seen you before. So.'
'Sorry, I didn't mean to be "mean", but I'm new here. So just was being cautious.'
'Oh, where were you before here?' He saw a frown on her face and said quickly 'It's OK if you don't wanna tell. I won't mind.'
She smiled. 'Did you hear about the accident today? Do you know anything about it?' she asked changing the subject.
'Yeah, I saw the message in the station before the display broke. The ticket collector didn't have much info other than that the train derailed'
'Derailed huh. I wonder what could cause a train to derail'
'I wonder too. May be we should google it later.' he smiled.
'Google. The answer to all the questions for us software engineers.' she exclaimed.
'Sorry, but am not a software engineer.' he replied.
She turned a light shade of red 'Sorry, I assumed.' She began fumbling with the book but then looked up as asked, 'Where do you work then?'
'Oh I'm a writer.'
'Wow, that sounds interesting. I've never come across a writer before. Have I read any of your books?'
He smiled 'probably not. 'Coz I don't write books. I'm a feature writer for a couple of newspapers and magazines in town.'
'I stopped reading magazines after coming here. Maybe I'll start again, with your features.' She smiled and went back to her book.
'You are new here, so how do you like the place so far? Have you been around town yet?'
'Naah, its actually been only a couple of weeks, and I was pretty busy unpacking stuff and shopping for the apartment mostly.'
'So you are staying alone huh'
'Yeah, I kind of always have wanted a place of my own where there's no one to tell me how to and how not to do something. This is my chance.'
'Same reason I wanted to have a place of my own'.
'Hmm, another reason, I'm new here and I don't know anyone, and I don't want to be living with a complete stranger.'
He was about to answer her when the train rocked violently again.

Dreaming a Dream (Part I)

Hey guys. I'm very sorry for no updates at all for a long time. Had been preoccupied with lots of work, and just wanted to relax on the weekends. Anyways, here I'm finally. This here is a short story, its my first stint at story telling. I hope you'll all like it. Please let me know if you feel I can improve in any specific part. Now read on and enjoy.

There was water below his feet, a river, perhaps an ocean, he didn't know. He was sitting on a ride, and there was a girl beside him. He couldn't remember her face, but could remember that he wanted her to be there, with him, holding his hand in hers. The ride was about to start, he heard a loud thud and then he opened his eyes. He looked around the room and could feel the rays of sunlight falling over his face through the narrow slits in the blinds. He looked at the time with groggy eyes. It was 7:15, yeah that was his friend leaving for work and he was probably late today. He switched off the alarm which was yet to ring and decided to wake up. He thought about the girl, who was she again? He couldn't remember her face but she definitely was someone he knew. Or did he?
An hour later, he was on his way to work walking the now very familiar path with music blasting in his ears. Such a wonderful invention, the MP3 players, he thought. Twas a beautiful sunny day, but the breeze was chilly. He held onto his jacket tightly. There were two thought going on in his mind. His weekend plans and his early morning dream. He had made plans to go to the six flags. And on which ride was he in his dream? Too bad, he couldn't recall. He passed the lake on his way to the train station. The endless lake was as big as an ocean (his eyes couldn't see the end) but for the waves.
He entered the station humming some old hindi number and sat down at the nearby bench to wait for the train. It was late today. He looked at the flashing sign which read "Southbound train delayed due to an accident". Damn. He heard the lady at the ticket machine cursing loudly for gobbling up her change. He smiled. He knew which machine was faulty when you used cash. He was just wondering what else could go wrong on this perfect day when he heard a guy firing a flurry of curses at the birds above. He looked in his direction and smiled. He knew where not to stand. He looked back at the flashing LED display only to find that the messages were all scrambled. He was starting to feel a little uneasy. Was it really a perfect day? Nothing has gone right till now except for the weather, but even that could actually change its face in an instant in this particular part of the globe.
Finally the train came in, almost in time. It looked ominous and he had a very bad feeling about it. He walked towards the last carriage and just by chance happened to a few wires hanging. He got onto and asked the conductor about it but he shrugged it off. He went ahead and sat down just near the door on the aisle seat. The train started and he drifted back into his music with a book in his hand, deep into its plot. The train stopped and a few people got on but he was so immersed into the book and didn't notice anyone until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Wubi: Playing nice with Windows

Wubi, is a tool that lets you install Ubuntu on your windows machine. Now what's so great about that? You could always install Ubuntu alongside Windows provided you have the installer disk. Well, this is where the magic begins. Wubi lets you install Ubuntu on your windows machine like it's just an application. No modifying the MBR to install the GRUB boot loader. No changing the partition table. Absolutely no impact on your current Windows installation. Wubi even lets you uninstall Ubuntu from your system leaving behind your Windows installation untouched. If you had installed Ubuntu before, you would know it is just a 6 step process. You answer some questions and you are well on your way to running Linux on your computer. Now Wubi cuts this even shorter. You are now three steps closer to Ubuntu installation.

1. Run the Wubi installer and choose the installation drive, size to be allocated, user name, password etc.
2. Wubi downloads the CD image from the Ubuntu website. (this might take a while depending on your internet connection)
3. Once that's done. You have to reboot and choose "ubuntu" from your Windows bootloader menu.

That's it. Installation begins here and you'll be prompted to login after it is complete.

That's all it takes to have a beautiful Ubuntu installation on your computer. Don't waste a minute thinking if you have been wanting to instal Linux your machine. Things couldn't get any easier or more beautiful.

I would like thank Agostino Russo and Evan Dandrea for creating Wubi, Mark Shuttleworth for giving us such a wonderful Operating System and the whole community that made Ubuntu what it is now.

Here's the Link for downloading Wubi.

Here's the Original Post by Mark Shuttleworth.
Mark Shuttleworth » Blog Archive » Playing nicely with Windows

CEO Speaks...

I work for a start-up company and so get to speak to my CEO everyday (That's is whenever he's not out on sales calls). We have lunch once in a while in the small kitchen in our office or go out to one of his favourite places somewhere nearby. He speaks a lot, and I don't mean some useless stuff that some people speak but very entertaining and sometimes very deep thoughts. He's a very philosophical man and it shows very clearly when we are sitting in our small kitchen having lunch.
Yesterday he had some very interesting things to share with us. Someone somewhere had conducted a study about what the correct retirement age should be. Can you guess? I'll give you three choices, 50's, 60's or never. Anyways, this is what the study said according to Alex (That's my CEO). If one retires in 50's, he still has the zeal to look for alternative things to do to keep oneself busy, be it a hobby or a way of earning some lively-hood. So the person remains sharp, active and happy and lives a long life. If someone decides never to retire and work as long as possible (can give you some examples in Ratan Tata, Warren buffet, John McCain, JRD Tata etc), then too the brain remains active and sharp till the end. But if one retires during 60's, then the zeal is lost and its difficult to find a hobby you like, or to be creative enough to think of something to to to keep oneself busy. That sure was an interesting study and I never thought so many scenarios could happen. So guys and gals, what do you think, when would you retire?
There are a couple of more things that Alex talked about. Elders usually find very simple answers to very complicated questions. Alex once asked is mom these questions,
How do you know what's the right thing to do?
Her answers were very simple and precise. If you have a choice of doing something, then the hardest among those choice is almost always the right thing to do. I tried to think of some decisions I had taken which would prove her wrong, but 99.99% of times, she was right. What do you think about this guys? Now I guess its easy for me to know what decision to take next time I'm undecided. Thanks Alex, I'll remember this one forever.
How do you know if a person likes you?
And for this question, she said, If you like a person wholeheartedly, then that person sure likes you too, but if you do not like someone, then you can safely assume that you are also not liked by that someone. This sure is a very simple answer to a very very complicated question. I personally am not 100% sure of this, but I'd be delighted if this is the case. let me know your views guys.
This last one, I would keep open ended for you to think about and discuss. How will the world be if one knew the exact date, time and manner of ones death the minute one was born. Would it be better, worse or would there be no change? Am very happy to have met someone like Alex and its wonderful to be working with him. I'll post more such discussion as they happen.

Fly Away...

I saw this beautiful video today called Glósóli, and wanted to share it with you all. I don't know what message this video conveys or if twas made for any special reason but I liked the music and the video very much. I was wondering what its actual purpose could be, 'cause everything is made for a cause right. When I see it, it just fills me up with new hope and belief, belief that I can achieve anything if I set my mind to it. That even I can fly.
Watch it guys and tell me your views about it. What do you think of it? FYI Glósóli is icelandic for "Glowing Sun".

Info: This music video is by Sigur Ros performing Glósóli with Nicola Doring, Arni and Kinski. (C) 2005 Geffen Records.

Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less

I just finished reading the book Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less By Jeffrey Archer, and what a good read it was. This is Jeffrey Archer's first book and reminds me of those plays of Shakespeare's that I used to read, especially 'All's well that ends well' and 'Comedy of errors' (Although, I must say that you may not have the same experience as I did).
It didn't feel like one of those regular novels, and was a very welcome change. Its a short story (time frame wise), the main plot spanning a little over a couple of months unlike Archer's other books which usually span over generations. It has a lot of drama, suspense and yeah a lot of comedy, especially the last few chapters.
I can sum up the whole plot with this one sentence taken from the book "Stevie, don't get cross, get even", which prompts the creation of the whole plot. I hope you, book enthusiasts, will read it if you haven't already and I assure you, you will enjoy it.

Inane Ramblings ...

Hey guys, I hope you all had and are still having a wonderful weekend. I didn't do much myself. Did a lot of reading, watching movies and yeah a lot of thinking. About the past, present and the future. I know that there's not much meaning or any purpose in this post, but I just wanted to write what was in my mind.
I was very ambitious in my teen years. I was very creative and had so many ideas and even made some of them come true. I can confidently say this 'coz I did receive that compliment from someone who was a very good friend at that time.

Somewhere down the lane I lost it. I became like so many other stereotype people who are very ordinary without any creativity, who can never think out of the box. I stopped drawing and painting which were my favorite hobbies. I stopped reading books, lost sight of my dreams and goals.

Better to ask twice than to lose your way once.

When I came to the US, I had made up my mind that I should start a fresh life, get back into doing everything I liked to do, but the pressure and stress of school here didn't give me the liberty to do everything I wanted though. I started reading books, had new dreams and goals, had some new ideas and I did pretty well then I had anticipated in school. I finished school soon and started working, but now what.
Today I look back and think of so many things that I could have or actually should have done. I think of the lost chances and hopes when I should have made better decisions and should have stood my ground. Maybe thats what life is about, isn't it? Its never fair to everyone, infact didn't I tell earlier once that it's never fair in your favor. But yeah past is past and you should never dwell in it, you should only learn from it and make sure you don't repeat the same mistakes. Ever again.
And I would like to tell you this one thing, may sound strange but still, you should never live in the future as well. It's not wrong to have dreams and goals, but you should not live in those dreams and let them spoil you present for you. Yes 'present', that is where you should spend your life, don't lament the past and don't worry about he future, just enjoy the present. Its a difficult thing to master, but am still trying.
Wow, I am surprised how this post turned out to be, can't believe where I started and ended :). Anyways as the title suggests, these are just inane ramblings that are going on in my head at 'present'. I just wanted to write something, sorry if you think I wasted your time. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Take care.

The Four Agreements, By Don Miguel Ruiz ...

While browsing today I came across these interesting set of rules for a good and peaceful living. They sounded very simplistic and easy to follow, but are they?

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word - Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
2. Don’t Take Anything Personally- Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
3. Don’t Make Assumptions- Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
4. Always Do Your Best- Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

Can you follow any of these say, for a week.

Lessons learnt in life

I have come up with a few "lessons well learned" in my life so far. Its not a complete list but a good list nevertheless. Hope you find them interesting and useful too.

1. If everything is going very smooth, check everything again.

When everything around you seems impeccable and when you can see nothing in your path towards that small speck of light which is your door to success, check everything and make sure that the small speck of light you see is not actually a mirror reflecting the actual door to success, which is on a completely different path, strewn around with every hurdle you can ever think of. Life is never fair to anyone and as Calvin says, its never ever unfair in your favor (hope you got that).

2. You never get everything you ask for.

Oh yeah, this is so very true and I've had so much experience in it. If you wish for a few things to happen, the most insignificant of those would happen for sure not matter what, but your dearest wish that you wanted to be true will never happen no matter how much you yearn or however long you wait for it to happen. There may have been exceptions for others, but not for me. Yet.

3. Girls are hard to understand and are unpredictable.

Well I've had limited experience in this category, but whatever experience I've had will surely last me a lifetime.
[Didn't find a suitable picture for this...Any suggestions are welcome.]

4. Never lose you confidence.

Never ever in you entire life, not even for a minute, should you think that you are a loser. There are times in your life when you get lucky and accomplish something great, that even you thought you would never be able to do. Use such accomplishments in you favor by thinking that you got it right because you are good at what you do, not because you got lucky (sometimes that's what is actually true and you are being modest 'bout it). Build up your confidence. But its also very important to not be overconfident and put too much on your plate than you can eat.

5. Be optimistic.

Being optimistic almost aways goes hand in hand with being confident. But there is a slight difference. Being optimistic in the face of trouble doesn't actually mean that you should always think positive. In my opinion, it means that you should always be on the look out for those negative (pessimistic) effects too but be positive (optimistic) about them and think of solutions to solve problems. Being confident is believing in yourself that you can achieve those solutions.

6. Treasure your friends

There are a few situations in life when you feel lonely and helpless, when you are beyond the reach of any family or when although you are in reach of family, you can't ask them for any help. Only person that can come to your aid at such times is a friend. Never lose them, for they are not something which can be found if lost. Friends never ask for much, only a 'hi' or a 'hello' once in a while will ensure an everlasting friendship.

There are more but these are the ones that came to my mind right away. As a reader if you disagree with any, or if you want to add to the list, you are welcome to start a discussion.