Advice

So it turns out I had a few symptoms of flu and cold after a while. I can't remember the last time I was ill(touch wood). I was rushing to the pharmacy and my garrulous neighbor noticed me covered in layers, and stopped me. I prayed to God "Not Now!!", but it turns out he had some good inputs on flu medicines. He detailed me on both types of NyQuil(day and night) and turns out yours truly feels a lot better after taking them; not to forget the 12 hours of deep sleep and a day off work. Thanks DJ.

An experiment

So over the last couple of weeks, I've been following the financial news in the US markets. One of the articles I came across was about a product I've been working on for the last year. I thought it would be nice to share it, however the URL was pretty lengthy. Turns out I did read about googles' URL shortener www.goo.gl. So I decided to give it a spin and generated the short url www.goo.gl/ec1Gx. That's about all I wanted. However, I got a lot more than that. I could also track the views by country and other reports. The image alongside summarizes the stats. So the URL was posted on my FB page and also as my IM status. The sample population would include my friends(approx age 20-35). Unknown/empty referrers in the data are the IM clicks, revealing that IM statuses would be a faster means to pass on info, compared to social networks. I guess it explains the success of the twitter model. The browser access breakdown surprised me a bit; while in the initial stages, there was a domination of IE, Firefox and Chrome picked up and in fact went on to surpass IE. The platforms too revealed that Windows remains dominant, though I was hoping there would be more of Linux in the stats. I guess some things never change. Its refreshing to see chrome pick up, since its one of my favorites, what with Firefox crashing of late.

The Cold Winter

There's something about the winter that makes one lazy. If you told me in summer that winter would be this sluggish, I'd have probably laughed it off. However, having experienced the fury of winter first hand in Baltimore accompanied by the snow, I must admit the first chilly winter is pretty daunting. Too many days like these, and you wonder whatever happened to the sun. is it playing hide and seek? No! It's been totally obliterated by the clouds!









And with the grass covered in such layers of snow, I guess it is hard to blame one for refusing to move out of the cozy indoors....lol.












One of the more audacious scenes I've witnessed this winter is this little one(snapped by my pal Chandra) having a gala time in the chilly weather. It's truly one of the better pics I've seen, with the snow settled on the grass and the creature about to disturb it.

Colors of Fall.

Everyone always told me that Fall in North America brings to light some beautiful colors. I let the pictures talk for themselves.


P.S: I shot these in my first semester during my Masters studies in Baltimore, Maryland.

Thoughts on Euro 2008.

Ok, maybe it's a little post-dated, but what the hell, I still enjoyed Euro 2008 and feel like writing about it.
It was in stark contrast to 2004, where the Greeks with their suffocating style of football strangled teams to 1-0 victories; rather, this was the time of the raging Spanish bull. Call it an armada if you may, but what a magnificent performance by the Spaniards. My memory takes me back to that 1998 World Cup and Euro 200, where the French played some real smooth football to clinch the titles.

It wasn't to be a second time for the Greeks though, and they were well countered in the group stages itself and suffered three straight defeats to be knocked out...ouch! The tournament would be remembered for the never say die attitude of the Turks..... trust them to pull out a last gasp winner. Whether it was stunning the Czech's when they thought they were through to the quarters, or beating the Croats, and pushing Germany to the very end, Turkey showed enough class to prove that their 2002 World Cup third place wasn't a fluke. Another lasting impression would be of the Italians going out to Spain in the quarters. Though a big fan of the Italians', I must admit they didn't deserve to go through that. Having won the 2006 World Cup on penalties convincingly, they left it to the shoot out; in the bargain, they played some of the most uninspiring football I've seen in the recent past. Spain were the one creating all the chances, and rightly so went through to the semis via the shoot-out.

Oh, how could the cup be complete without some Dutch flovor. The Netherlands hammered the Italians and then the French; in the process topping their group. The French fell in the group of death and rightly so. It seemed that the tournament would be colored Orange, but the Russians had other ideas; knocking out the Dutch with a 3-1 win in extra time to cause a major upset. Oh how miserable I felt when they were knocked out. So then my eyes were set on the Portugal - Germany quarter final game. I'd tipped the Portuguese to lift the title this time, but the Germans followed some crisp marking and executed a plan so meticulous that led to a 3-2 defeat of Portugal. Oh for some beautuiful football! What was left in the tournament were Germany, Spain, Russia and Turkey. The final line up though predictable, was Germay and Spain. Spain played their trademark beautiful game to knock out the Russians' 3-0, while Germany scrapped hard for a 3-2 win over the tireless Turks. The final saw Spain emerge 1-0 winners; though not a high scoring game, the Spanish side showed some great flair, and were worthy winners.

I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the tournament, and look forward to the young Spaniard side picking up more trophies soon. Hail the Spanish armada.

An eventful saturday.

Today was a beautiful lazy Saturday; thought I'd sleep the day away. As luck would have it, my friends popped up at the door early morning, and said "Lets go to play cricket!! ". I was like "noo..not today!!... I get this one day to undo all the injustice done to me through the week, and you want me to ruin it too!!"...lol... But I so didn't want to play the spoil sport;I went to the loo.. washed up, grabbed a quick bite and some milk, and voila, we're all ready for some cricket.

It's been some time since I've played cricket (psst... I used to be bloody good at it at some time!!.... umm .... don't really know how many years back that was...he he). So off we were to this ground close to home. Turns out yours truly can still hold the cricket bat, and hit a few boundaries and sixes (though must admit, the technique has gone for a toss!)... and we managed 42 runs in the first game in 5 overs (oh, for the uninitiated, and over consists of 6 balls). Though at one point we thought we have got close to 55-60.... then comes our turn to bowl.... we've already conceded 27 in 3 overs.... the opposition needs 16 of 2... the captain hands the ball over to me.... what happened hence is a total disaster... this is what the over looked like... 1.4.4.1.4.Nb.1. Now that's what we call giving it a finishing touch....lol... god was feeling so miserable. Then came the next game... fortunately bowled first this time... we got a great over first up... just a singe run, then 9 off the second.. then we turned things around... picked up a couple of great catches, I got one great run out... and wow... we got them bowled out for 18... our openers put on 10 and left... since it was 4 men a side, I had to ensure we don't lose.... my partner kept egging me on.... we had 12 off 3 overs.... next we get a couple... and then I smash one for a six.... WE WON!!!..... woo hoo ... what a feeling... unreal...

Maybe it was really worth ruining the Saturday..;-)