Two Weeks

Hello,

It's often said that people reach a very, very low point at least once in their life. Well, I think I did mine. Between this post and my last, a lot of things happened. I had some of the worst experiences: I was denied what I deserved, simply because i was not better that what i am. With result, i had days filled with head ache and chronic depression while nights were sleepless. For about two weeks, i had know idea what I was going to do. Life had come to a standstill and I was in no mood for vacation.

For those two weeks, I had no idea what college i was going to join. Will I get a real good one like BITS? Will I get something reasonably good? Or will I be in a state where I get an obscure college with an unpronounceable name situated in a place that doesn't have a pin code? I didn't know. Or worse...will I have to repeat one more year to make up for my misgivings...and lose a year of my life in nothing but redoing what I didn't do very well?

I looked around. All along I had been thinking that people around me were doing more or less what I was. But the extent of 'more or less' had been large enough to put me in a grey-area where i was absolutely alone. Everyone was ahead, in some way or the other. Or at least they were CLEAR about what they were going to do. I wasn't. Either people had modestly decided to repeat their twelfth grade and prepare exclusively for the deadly entrance examinations...others had somehow managed to get their colleges. I on the other hand wasn't sure about any of those, and worse, wasn't able to think in that direction at all. There were a few final fibres to hold on to, a few colleges who hadn't released their results...but what if they snapped too? I had no back-up plan.

Thinking back on what I did in the past two years, I've realized that i made one big mistake: I had put too many restriction on myself to push my performance up. But my net efficiency was still down. For instance, if I saved four hours by restrictions, I used only two and a half of them. The remaining, just went as i dragged the work that I could have taken lesser time to do, or had better sense to give up and start over with something achievable. I took this weird path of lethargic perseverence. I paid.

After weeks of the turmoil, I finally have a seat at hand, from an institute called Sastra University. It's not something you could call great...but I'm more than just glad to have it. Right now, I'm ready to go for it...although I'm yet to receive any communication from another college called VIT. But that's not the point. The point is...even though i was going to get my seat in a college, I got it after all this trouble maybe because I was supposed to see something in meantime. Something which is perhaps inside me. Have I? I do not know.

Nevertheless, I'm certain that these two weeks worth of experience has changed me. I'm no longer the same guy. How have I changed? I do now know. But to keep it simple, I can (and will) promise myself, right here and now, that the mistakes I've done will never be repeated.

It's a fact of life, one might say. But it's not all that easy i suppose. Not repeating a mistake is perhaps just as difficult as not committing it in the first place. But who says we've an option?

Until I blog again,

Cya

Sumanth.

"If you try the best you can,

If you try the best you can,

The best you can is good enough" -- Radiohead

Procession moves on, the shouting is over.

EDIT: I restored my system before posting this blog, and due to some sort of mess up, it shows that i posted this on May 7th. I, actually, put this one up on June 4th.

Hello all,

Time moves with a strange speed after all, very similar to a journey in an airplane: You look out through the window and all you see is the landscape beneath you barely moving. But in no time, you're far away from where you started!

The last few months have been quite eventful on many fronts. All my exams are finally over, with shockingly mediocre results which, definitely, are not going to fetch me the best colleges in the country. I flunked IITJEE (the seven hour long test). However, the colleges i'm eligible for, aren't so bad either. I hope to get myself into Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS.)

On the non academic front too, things have been moving well. Soon after I had my Seagette External Drive installed, I got a Western Digital 1TB Drive. I haven't installed it yet since I've a lot of space inside my PC, and very little outside.

My Sony Ericsson G502 went into serious trouble and began hanging and restarting about five times a day. With it's timely entry came the saviour: It's evil twin! Yes, I now have a Sony Ericsson G502, a black one this time with a few improved features and a more sensitive keypad. I've been lately clicking a lot of pictures using it. Those who have added me as your friend on Facebook can have a look at it.

I've been a lot into movies lately, exploring across various genres from film makers like Kubrick, Tarantino, Tom Tyker, Linklater and Scorsese. I also happened to watch this Anime series called DeathNote and really liked it. I further borrowed a few episodes of GetBackers and Neon Genesis Evangelion from a friend of mine, but they don't seem to work very well on my PC...need to find a more versatile media player.

Rant on DeathNote

EDIT: Not exactly a rant...rather the opposite of it.

Talking about DeathNote, it's got one of the most ingenious plots and a very interesting concept that's partially based on Japanese mythology of death Gods or the Shinigami. The series opens with Light, a high school boy who tops his class, is popular with the ladies and the son of a cop, stumbling upon a notebook. He further comes to know that the person whose name is written in the notebook shall die.

The anime on the whole revolves around the two ways of defining justice. Light, believes that criminals should be punished, and hence goes on to use the DeathNote to kill the criminals. On the other hand, L, a mysterious but highly successful (claimed to be the world's best) detective believes that every criminal should be given a chance to start over with their life, and hence works towards stopping Light, pronouncing him a psychopath murderer.

DeathNote contains a wonderful story with a very tight plot that leaves no loopholes and questions the intellect of the viewer at certain instances. L is also portrayed as an individual with strange characteristics like holding objects as if they were contaminated, and having an extremely sweet tooth.

Another good feature about the anime is its Original Soundtrack. The set is peppered with musical masterpieces which have influenced my guitar playing a lot. Tracks such as L's and Near's theme are intriguing and set a good mood. That friend of mine who recommended the anime to me listens to L's theme every time he gets stuck with an integration problem!

--

Talking about music, as I always do, I've been exploring new bands. Most of them have been from the British music scene, although I've also tried a few American/Canadian indie bands.

The ones at the top are Arcade Fire, Joy Division, The Smiths, Dirty Projectors and Pavement. I don't have much to talk about each of the albums in detail, but I'm sure each of them a must-listen to every indie rock lover.

Apart from that, I also continued with my as usual deep digging of Radiohead and listened to their B-side and EP tracks. Many of them are quite good enough to be placed on the regular studio albums. Others have interesting tunes, but pathetic with the sound quality. The rest are just repetitive. Moving out of the Radiohead's works as a band, I've also been listening to the member's solo works. Jonny Greenwood's OST for the film Bodysong is an excellent piece of art with loads of experimentation and continuity between every two tracks. One can find a lot of jazz and electronica elements in the album.

A few weeks back, I had spent sometime in Bangalore in the name of vacation, and had a chance to visit this music instrument store called Furtados. The shop is heaven for anyone who's looking for music instruments, and has knowledgeable attendants who are ready to give as much information as possible than just simply waiting for the customer to either buy or leave. I suggest all my guitar-loving friends to check this shop out. They're a chain of shops across the country and have branches in all the metropolitan cities.

--

I've not been into books lately. I last read the the legendary sci-fi novel called 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C.Clarke. Really impressive. As suggested by my friend, I also read The Firm by John Grisham. Reviews to come soon. I've a stash of books waiting for me to read, only that I don't find much time for those.

I think I've covered most things that I've been playing around with. Can't think of more. I believe I'll be more regular with blogging now that my crucial exams are over.

So Cya all until my next blog,

Templar AKA Sumanth

P.S.: I've already told this before, but for those who are bored of reading long blogs like this one, you can receive short and quick updates here: http://twitter.com/templar165

P.S. 2 (not the playstation, you dumbo): To keep up with the name of my blog, here's an interesting site that you might want to check: http://www.geekologie.com/image.php?path=/2009/07/22/computer-hardware-2.jpg

Have fun =)

Last blog of the decade.

Hello all,

A lot has happened in the past four months, and it's high time I did blog about it. As the title suggests, this would be the last blog of the year, and of the decade too, hence there's the end-of-the-year wrap-up section following.

As for the gadget guys around, I recently bought a Seagate 1TB HDD. It's impressively small and sleek enough to fit in between my system cabinet and one of the speakers, which is barely any space IMO. I also purchased an also-run webcam with basic features since my dad's been going around the country all too often these days. And a replacement for my old Intex Headphones: Frontech (forgot the model).

My Phone's working okay, but I'm unable to find an 8GB M2 card around here. I could go to one of those nasty little basement stores, but I'm not guaranteed of reliable stuff down there.

Rant on Seagate External Hard Drive:

Starting with the price, it's quite surprisingly economical, costing around 5 grands (rupees). Owing to the high capacity and high transfer speeds, there's an external power supply. Compared to the other external hard drives, this one is bigger by about two times and has got more vents. The transfer speeds are quite impressive, almost as fast as the internal drives, and makes my PC look airy with lots of space :P

The hard drive comes with a bunch of softwares which could do a variety of things like creating auto-backups, encrypting files stored in it, and creating virtual space and thereby securing a part of the drive, just like false bottom of a draw. One also gets a movie-making software, which isn't any different from our good old windows movie maker.

--

My friend recently received a Nokia N97 on his birthday (amazing!) and I got some chance to play around with it. Actually, I had to tutor him on how to use half its features. Well, he's indeed a little nervous about the phone, thanks to the cost!

Talking about the phone, it's got a very attractive slide system. The touch screen adds to the goodness, but isn't as sensitive as the iPhone, and the stylus is a potential damage weapon to the screen. I'd recommend not to use it if you're invoking a paint-like software (don't remember the name, duh!)

Otherwise, N97's got an excellent music interface and great speakers. The highlight of this phone is the FM transmitter. One could set their own frequency on the phone and relay songs with a radius of 10m. It's particularly useful when one wants to listen to songs from his phone while driving...or when its party-time :) I tested this system vigorously for the quality; I played Radiohead in it, and was quite impressed. As far as how Radiohead is, I'll come to it later ;)

--

My guitar lessons have finally ended. I mean, not completed, but ended i.e., my guitar instructor/teacher has returned to the US after completing his mission here. We had a nice farewell, and he gifted my bro (and figuratively, me) a new guitar :) Since then I and my brother have been covering various songs, mostly from Radiohead. We haven't found a good guitar teacher yet, but I've been lately taking online lessons from Warren Lain on youtube.

Apart from that, I've been mostly studying as the JEE comes closer and closer. Tomorrow will be 2010, a BIG step closer to the bang-day! I've improved over the period of past few months, scoring pretty well and staying fairly certain of scratching into the college. Although there's still a long long way to go before I'm satisfied.

Best of 2009

And so has another year gone with all its exciting and contrastingly dull events. However one may refer to it, one more circle around the sun, or one more year closer to its end, it's finally 2010, and I'm glad it is.

On personal opinions, I would say 2009 went the fastest for me since I was very busy with studies and also the strange act of balancing many other things. Surprisingly, I've listened to more music than ever, watched more number of movies than any year in the last decade, and (obviously) studied much more!

Moving on to my personal charts,

*All that I shall be talking about need not have released in 2009, but come across by me in 2009.

**I'm not making a end-of-decade chart since it would all be concentrated around 2008-2009 even if i made one.

Music:

Top 10 albums of the year:

10. Homogenic - Bjork

9. Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth

8. The Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd

7. Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin

6. Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division

5. Is This It - The Strokes

4. Revolver - Beatles

3. Kid A - Radiohead

Runner: Turn On The Bright Lights - Interpol

I came across this album not more than a month back, and it steadily rose up my favourites with every listen.

'Turn on the bright lights' is Interpol's debut album released in 2002.

Beginning with the dark Untitled, Interpol takes us through fast paced tracks, amazing ballads and thought provoking lyrics. Though the band's line-up is nothing much but electric guitars and pick-basses, the lead is melodic, and music is difficultly tight! It did keep up to my friend's words "the album will grow over you like an e^x graph."

Must Listen: Untitled, Obstacle 1, NYC, Hands Away, Leif Erikson

Winner: In Rainbows - Radiohead

Two Radiohead albums have made it to the top 5.

Starting with a groovy song with icy beats, the album progresses into britop and then in for some soft and abstract songs, then coming to win my heart with Faust Arp and Reckoner, further proceeding on with dark but soothing stracks such as House of Cards and Videotape. From the guitar point of view, the album has got a LOT to learn from, right from the first track till the last one! Some of the songs have surprisingly simple bases, which, I wish, had struck me.

In Rainbows in an excellent album and does feel like a rainbow in the sky; every track has it's own greatness and also sums up the band's journey across various music styles from The Bends.

Must Listen: 15 Step, Bodysnatchers, Nude...hell, listen to the whole album!

Top 10 tracks of the year:

10. Wilderness - Joy Division

9. I Might Be Wrong - Radiohead

8. Obstacle 1 - Interpol

7. Actor Out of Work - St.Vincent

6. Silver Rocket - Sonic Youth

5. Untitled - Interpol

4. Alone, Together - The Strokes

3. Tomorrow Never Ends - Beatles

Runner: Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin -- Although I had first listened to it in 2008, I actually knew about it only around March 2009. Ever since the first listen, it's been at the top. One of the most optimistic song that takes you through the entire process of consolation. Lyrically, it's a song to worship. The lead guitar and guitar/drum sync is incredibly beautiful! I listen to it every time I'm a bit depressed.

Winner: Paranoid Android - Radiohead -- I remember Reetesh had suggested last year that I listen to it. It was a a so-so song for me then. But in course of the twelve months that went by, the song grew over me faster than a massive and destabilized hydrogen fusion reaction.

Beginning with a very jazzy, and indie beat, the song progresses into angst laden melodies, then entering the heavy bit with Jonny's blasting solos..the song then undergoes a massive slowdown only to get faster again with a bang! Every bit of the song gives me goosebumps and not a day goes without listening to it. Greatness!

--

Movies:

English:

I haven't watched many movies lately, thanks to the academic priorities, but of those I've watched,

Nominees:

• Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
• 2012
• A Clockwork Orange
• Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the crystal skull
• October Sky

Runner: October Sky

October Sky is a pleasant movie about four high school boys living in a town supported by a coal mine. Inspired by the launch of Sputnik at that time, they set out to build their own rocket. The fun-filled journey with good deal of obstacles make the movie memorable. Another great aspect of the movie is that I could relate myself to the characters and their pressures at various stages, such as performing in academics, making an earning, etc.

Winner: A Clockwork Orange

One of the most thought provoking movies I've ever watched. The only other movie that impressed me as much was The Dark Night, which topped my chart last year :) The highlight of the movie is it's plot that is strong enough to make the viewer ignore many of it's shockingly perverse scenes. A must watch for anyone who can tolerate a perverse atmosphere (almost everyone, that would be) :P

EDIT: I haven't watched the two great movies of 2009: Inglorious Basterds and Avatar. I wish I did.

Hindi (Indian):

As I mentioned before, I've watched more number of Hindi movies than I did before..in the theatre, I mean.

Nominees:

• Dev D
• Kaminey
• 3 Idiots

Runner: Kaminey

An excellently narrated story of twins whose lifes are disjoint, but very much intertwined. Inspired by Tarantino flicks, it's an offbeat, yet a very catchy movie with a never-seen-before (in India) plot that thickens with every passing scene.

Winner: 3 Idiots

I'm still running out of words to praise this masterpiece. It was the perfect ending for 2009 and released at a very strategic time when half the student population of the country is busy preparing for one of the most toughest exams mankind has seen. It's just as amazing as Kaminey with excellent plot, but also has an underlying message important for a happy life.

--

I've hardly read any books. The only two I did this year were The Last Theorem by Aurthur C. Clarke and The Theory of Everything by Stephen Hawkins.

Wish you all a Happy New Year which shall go just as fast with fewer bad moments greater success events!

I'm off!

Templar AKA Sumanth

Paranoid or not, Definitely Android.

Hello all,

Days are hectic. Not much time. The two months have gone faster than it ever has...and I presume it will speed up ahead. Ahead of me comes the regular college exams after which I've got two major tests back to back on 3rd and 4th of October. SAT on the tenth of next month.

Trouble comes with the fact that, these tests include what I've learnt last year, which means I need to pretty much revise what I did back then, and also improvise upon it.

Here is a rough compilation of what I've been doing in the past 2 months during my breaks, free time and other times when I'm not locked up in my room.

(FYI, the PC is NOT in my room.)

On the first of June, I promised myself that I would pick up no non-academic work that would be time consuming, which includes reading novels. SAT requires quite a good vocabulary and language command, but with just a couple of months left to spare, any new effort would make no substantial difference IMO. The promise also covers restriction on jobs such as continue writing my novel and regular replies on forums.

I come online mostly only to reply to my friend's messages and listen to webcasts and podcasts of some of the sites I follow.

From what I've heard...

1) Looks like SUN has turned down IBM's proposal to acquire it.

2)Sony's announcement of PS3 slim version.

3)iPhone 3GS released sometime in June...runs on an Samsung Processor.

4)RIKEN is busy building a supercomputer that is expected to reach speeds of 10Petaflops.

The real me, or the non-digital ego inside me has been lately into a lot of music. I've also watched a couple of movies this year. Here are short reviews about them. The grammar would be erratic. No Pictures. Reason: Shortage of time. However, the list seems to be quite long, hence those who are not into much of music, please avoid this section of the blog.

On Movies

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (English)

Contains least usage of special effects, more realstic picturization with a darker theme portrayed without the gimmicks of direct violent horror. Closest to the book, and also the best in the series.

Rating: 4/5

Kaminey (Hindi; Indian)

Story revolves around twins - one is a lisp and the other stammers - is far away from the general emotional sequences. Dark theme of underworld intertwining with story of love. High violence. Blood and Gore. Figuratively a Tarantino inspired flick. Probably the best this year.

Rating: 4.5/5

(This is the first indian movie ever to have risen this high in my personal charts)

On Music

I've not put up the album covers since time does not permit that. Anyway, it's all about what you listen to.

OK Computer - Radiohead

An album that set a new direction to the trend of music in Britain during its time. Dotted with dark tracks, it's a treat to every alternate rock lover.

Rating: 4/5

Must listen: Airbag, Paranoid Android, Karma Police, Subterranean Homesick Alien, No Surprises

Tonight - Franz Ferdinand

The band has explored Europop and has come out with excellent tracks. Light hearted album with a carefree attitude.

Rating: 3/5

Must Listen: Ulysses, No You Girls, Send Him Away

Veckatimest - Grizzly Bear

One of the most innovative albums released this year, with a weird setting of darkness and abyss beyond the surface of the music.

Rating: 4.5/5

Must Listen: Southern Point, All we ask

The Bends - Radiohead

Very thoughtful usage of the tremolo pedal. Radiohead comes out with the wonderful atmospheres that the BritPop kings like Oasis have somewhat failed to create.

Rating: 4/5

Must Listen: Planet Telex, The Bends, Just, My Iron Lung, Street Sprit(Fade out)

Pablo Honey - Radiohead

Heavy, repetitive. Being Radiohead's debut album, it is a dead giveaway of the band's chief inspirations like Nirvana.

Rating: 2/5

Must Listen: Creep

Definitely Maybe - Oasis

A Beatles inspired band. The band's debut album with straight hit towards Nirvana; tracks having an attitude contrating to that of the latter.

Rating: 3/5

Must Listen: Supersonic, Live Forever

Fantasies - Metric

Outstanding vocals by Emily Haines. Guitar heavy tracks far away from Metal, but rocking! The quieter tracks are awesome too.

Rating: 3.5/5

Must Listen: Help I'm Alive, Guns Gold Girls, Help I'm alive(acoustic)

Kid A - Radiohead

The band's turning point. A venture into experimentation using french electronica instruments, computerized effects and icy beats, Kid A wins every patient mind's heart (:P).

Rating: 4.5/5

Must Listen: Everything in its right place, The National Anthem, How to disappear completely, Idioteque, Morning Bell, Motion Picture Soundtrack

Amnesiac - Radiohead

Dubbed to be Kid B, the album is referred to as the twin of Kid A. Tracks contain lyrics expressing depression, resent and longing for suicide, all the same, it's one of Radioheads most innovative ventures.

Rating: 4/5

Must Listen: Packt like sardines in a crushd tin box, The pyramid song, You and whose army, I Might be wrong, Amnesiac-morning bell.

Yellow House - Grizzly Bear

Secong studio album of the band. Ed Droste and bandmate Chris Taylor suggest that: "there is not really a theme with the lyrics but the theme of the album is us figuring out how to work together and recording in that house, which is what brought it together in that weird way."

Rating: 3.5/5

Must Listen: Lullabye, Knife, Central and Remote

Revolver - The Beatles

Band stands second in my top faves. Revolver explored the emerging genre of psychedelia. Loop tape effects, Reverse Guitar, repetitive drum beats. The band is also known for this album, as one of the earliest precursors of Electronica.

Rating: 4.5/5

Must Listen: Taxman, Eleanor Rigby, Doctor Robert, I want to tell you, Tomorrow Never knows

Led Zeppelin IV (Zoso) - Led Zeppelin

World renown album, and the final one by the band. The tracks have more of the bands native folk influence. This band happens to stand right behind the mighty Beatles.

Rating: 4/5

Must Listen: Stairway to heaven, Rock n Roll, Blackdog, Battle of Evermore

White Blood Cells - The White Stripes

Revisit into old style garage rock. Noisy and nostalgic, light minded music with probably not much sense.

Rating: 2.5/5

Must Listen: Offend in everyway, The Union forever, Aluminium

Urban Hymns - The Verve

Breezy album with hangover of the shoegazing movement of Britain. Peppered with positive and soothing tracks, all the same doing justice to the basic features of rock such as heavy drum beats.

Rating: 3/5

Must Listen: Bittersweet Symphony, Sonnet, The Rolling People

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

Another revolutionary album from Seattle after Nevermind (nirvana) and Ten (Pearl Jam), but deep into the indie genre. The tracks have a lot in common with retro indian songs in terms of the tunes and synthesizer usage.

Rating: 3.5/5

Must Listen: Ragged Wood, Tiger Mountain Peasant Song, Your protector

I'm currently listening to:

Albums:

Actor - St.Vincent

You could have it so much better - Franz Ferdinand

Abbey Road - The Beatles

Singles:

These are my twiseted words - Radiohead

Seven Nation Army (off an album) - The White Stripes

All is Full of love(off an album again) - Bjork

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

Face off - Blackberry 8110, Sony Ericsson G502, Nokia 5130 Express Music

The mentioned phones are those that are presently at home and one day I set out compare them. I know, they're poles apart, but I just wanted to see which one of these excels the most.

Looks: G502. This little instrument is sleek and small in size but gives sufficient space for a two inch screen. BB's pearl is attractive, but on the whole, the phone is big and fat, and hence stands second. The Nokia instrument is curvy all over and gives an unpleasant impression.

Display: BB 8110. The three inch screen is almost as attractive as the tiny pearl placed in the center of the instrument. The larger screen with very good resolution makes BB top. The next is G502 and Nokia comes last again for its disfugred LCD display that gives weird shades at different angles when holding the phone vertically.

Security: BB 8110. Now that's quite obvious; all Blackberrys are renown for their strong security and real dense encryption of data. The Bluetooth is a main cause of lack of security in the other two, worse in G502 since the option to switch off Bluetooth is deep within a number of menus and in case of emergency, it could be too late.

Music/Sound Quality

>>On Speakers: Nokia 5130. It's quite surprising to be able to hear the bass line from the speakers of the phone. The volume range is quite big and is enough for the music to be audible around a standard sized dining table. Blackberry second.

>>In Earphones: G502. All Sony Ericsson phones (and Sony Walkman) are popular for the music quality, and this one isn't any less. The sound quality as very much comparable to that of an iPod. One small hitch is that the earphones are a bit too big and long time usage could hurt one's ears. Blackberry second.

Media Player Interface: G502. The Sony Ericsson's default media player gives complete track information, album art and a two way runtime. It's also easy to access the playlist. BB comes next. Both the phones have an integrated media player from where one can access music, video, podcasts, photos and voice notes. Nokia does not have a very good media player. The playlist is difficult to access simultaniously while playing a song.

Overall Interface: Tie. Both Nokia and Blackberry hit a tie here, for their own charm. Blackberry wins every techie's heart with its glowing pearl set strategically for optimum utility. It's amost like a mouse, but is thankfully not like the red dot in the middle of old IBM laptops.

Nokia 5130 attracts users with its media interface (not to be confused with the player interface) which includes buttons on the sides of the phones which control play/stop, next, previous and volume adjustment. The unique flashing effect when one opens the media player is also as good!

Sony Ericsson has a pretty bad interface; it would take sometime mastering it. Pressing the 'C' button could sometimes delete some particular data. It would take more than just common sense to operate the phone. Instructions on the screen has to be meticulously followed.

PC Suite: G502. The Sony Ericsson does not actually require a PC Suite, while the other two do. In the former, one could chose between Phone mode and Mass Storage mode. The Phone mode requires a PC Suite, but the Mass Storage mode makes is act just like a flash drive, which makes transfer of data way easier. The other two require a software on the PC, and of them, Nokia has a more user friendly desktop interface.

Final Face-Off

Format: First Place-1 point, second-0.5 point(s), third place-0 point(s)

Sony Ericsson G502: 5 Points

Blackberry Pearl 8110: 5 Points

Nokia Express Music 5130: 3 Points.

Which quite conveys that Sony's G502 and BB's 8110 are equally good in their own ways, while Nokia is behind.

One more factor that I've not mentioned is cost, where quite obviously Blackberry tops (most expensive). Nokia is the most economical of the three, costing not too much for all the also-run features it has. All the same, I've all the three, and this was just an analysis I did to satisfy the 'Templar' in me.

Alright then, time's up.

Hang on, here's something I wish to say before I sign off. All those of you who read my blog, please comment/reply to my posts in the COMMENT SECTION ONLY. When I receive replies through other media, my alter ego is put off and the real me at times fails to convey the point on cosidering factors such as social reputation, respect, courtesy etc. The internet is primarily a medium to share knowledge and we must hold on to its basic purpose.

Facebook users who might read this blog as a 'Note' on my profile may comment on this blog only. The link can be found in my Facebook profile.

Time varying magnetic fields affecting a rod lying on a horizontal plane with the magnetic field creating concentric electric fields that create a potential difference, and induce a static electric field inside the rod.....integration...

Ah...it's the real me taking over...

Till my next blog...

Cya

Templar AKA Sumanth

The Rate Determining Step

Hey all...remember me?

I've been busy all these two months with numerous jobs to complete. Moreover, this happense to be the most crucial period of time in my life, as it is in everyone's: The Twelfth Grade. It means a lot more than just graduating out of high school, since as many of you know, I aim at joining the most prestigious chain of colleges across India, called the IITs, for which it is mandatory that I crack a very challenging exam next april.

So, here are a few 'Lifestyle changes' that I've brought in since the beginning of our new term.

First, I have made it a point to study for an average of Five hours everyday.

Second, in order to ensure my first resolution, I've decided to put a stop to what I'm most into: Gadgets. I guess it's tough, but I shall join a few quizzes now and then to keep myself somewhat updated.

Talking about what has happened in the past two months, they have been most eventful.

First thing was the much hyped reshuffling test that came like a tempest and washed over all my dreams, putting me into a lesser priority batch. (I'll explain the system sometime later. Remind me.) This low priority roughly means lesser chance of being able to crack the JEE next year. Fortunately, I've got teachers this time, expecially for chemistry, who make me feel confident and back me up at those times when I drop down.

Now, talking about SAT. I prepared for nearly one whole month for SAT, and could not write it. Thanks to the the indian passport authorities. I had applied for a passport renewal before even applying for SAT, but did not receive the booklet in time. I missed the exam, and I doubt I can get the refund. Anyway, I'd write it again this October.

Regarding other news, my dad's BlackBerry is alright now, and the bluetooth is perfectly working. Also, I have got a new instrument :) Sony Ericsson G502

The new phone is quite impressive in terms of the features, which include the basic ones like mp3/mpeg player, FM Radio, 2MPCamera and also a few cool features that I've been wanting, like GPRS, Photo Editor in phone, and 3G. The 3G technology is useless at the moment since it has not much picked up in India yet, but soon it should come down to fit in a common man's pocket.

My guitar lessons are coming around well and I can now play a few complete songs such as Airbag, Jigsaw Falling into place-Radiohead and Boulevard of Broken Dreams-Green Day. No lead guitar yet.

Otherwise, one thing that has constantly been dynamic in terms of progression is my music-listening. I do not want to talk much of it. I'm just putting up pictures of Albums.

Alright then, that's all for now. A dark year awaits me, to explore bravely and successfully complete it, where the end awaits an arena where all friends turn foes.

Cya

Templar AKA Sumanth

P.S. I've joined twitter. My page is: http://twitter.com/templar165 do check out.

No Cool for a while

Hello friends, 

It isn't going to be cool for a while in many ways. 

To start with, the six hour long tests are closing in, and I have devoted most of my time to preparing for it, as it is a mock test for the major examination I am aiming to crack sametime next year. I have halted most of my other activities, except for browsing the net and connecting with some of my friends. 

Otherwise, regarding the things I recently did, I had been reading 'The Last Theorem' co-authored by Aurthur C. Clarke, and been listening to Kid A, and No Line on the Horizon. I also heard about 'Know Your Enemies' releasing sometime this week. I'll try it out soon. I also read somewhere that Twitter will soon be acquired by Google...is it? Interesting.

Also, the weather here at my place is quite aweful and I need to use the air conditioner more than I do usually during summers. The worst part is that there is a scheduled power cut every morning between 7 and 9, which is the time I usually start studying and get frustrated of being covered with sweat all over. It isn't cool here, not even warm, PIPING HOT!

But occassionally, no, rarely, a cool breeze blows by, or a drizzle in the evening, which results in further power cut...well, it isn't great time here during summer. 

I also wish all the best to all of you who have got their exams closing in, since I believe they are as crucial as mine are to me.

More later, I need to go and finish a couple of revision assignments...I shall talk about tech later when I am relatively less busy.

Until then,

Cya,

Templar AKA Sumanth

Review Blog: Trust is the key

Hello friends,

My short span of holidays have ended with a grand 'Euphoria '09', which is our college cultural event. The day had been great every hour being eventful. We received our Practice Material for the 'preparation phase for the reshuffling test.' Reshuffling test can be aptly compared to a compulsive enrollment into the popular reality show 'Fear Factor' (probably that was a little too much).

The test is up in the first week of may and I need to show what I really am, since the past year had been bleak for me. This test would shuffle us into batches based on performance cut-offs and we'd be in those sections/classrooms till sametime next year!

Looking into that short span of holidays, I read a large part of Atlas Shrugged, after which I got a little heavy headed with the work. Hence, I put the book down and picked up some light-reading material. No prizes for guessing.  Ptolemy's Gate.

REVIEW: PTOLEMY'S GATE

Book: Ptolemy's Gate

Author: Jonathon Stroud

Genre: Fantasy/Young Fiction

At the outset, this book contains a story weaved using a number of elements. The highlighted ones are politics, history and ambition. As a matter of fact, the broken journey through Atlas Shrugged helped me understand this story better than I would have, have me reading in between lines, words, grasping the true emotions, qualities and other abstract features portrayed in Ptolemy's Gate. 

To start with, Ptolemy's Gate is an apt title for the book, since it completely revolves aroung this 'gate' that connects two different worlds. (I could relate to the earlier versions of The Silent Paradise by Klaus :P ) Ptolemeus was one of the old master's of Bartimaeus, one which Bartimaues had honoured for ever.

The story starts three years after Golem's Eye. Nathaniel (or officially, John Mandrake) is promoted as the Information Minister. The actual beginning is a historical note where Bartimaeus helps his master Ptolemy in escaping death when four assassins attack him one night, sometime in 125 BC. 

The first chapter is a perfect irony, where the strength of Bartimaeus reaches an all time low, where he is trapped under the rubbles of a public lavatory. He has been kept on earth for about two years under the service of John Mandrake, since the master has his own fears of letting his djinni out of grip. London fights a war against the Americans, and don't seem to gain an upper hand at all. This puts John (Nathaniel from now on, please) in difficult political situations. To add to it, the Prime Minister is crazy and holds a party almost every fortnight, and also invites all the council members for all those boring plays by his playwright Quentin Makepeace. The situation between Nathaniel and his demon (one of them, which is Bartimaeus) is tensed.

All the while, Kitty, who is presumed dead by the government is under a hideout and works for a local Inn at London in the name of Clara, and also ends up as an assistant-cum-apprentice for a magician, as Lizzie. During these years, with the help of magicians, she has learnt a great deal about the djinn and other demons(sorry...spirits) and also strives to know about the history of Bartimaeus. She also learns more about The Other Place, and what Bartimaeus has to do with it. 

So the story progresses into where the djinn plan a strike-back against all the earthlings, particualarly Magicians, for enslaving them for thousands of years. It is then, when all the three protagonists come together, and make a difference in their lives, and those of others.

My Rating:

Story 5/5

Jonathon Stroud presents you an excellent story that has a thick plot, which is completely linked to the previous volumes of the series. He also answers several questions from the prequels of Ptolemy's Gate without boring the reader, or deviating from the actual plot. And what more...there is Bartimaeus with his wonderful footnotes, and historic descriptions which give a proper finish to the book.

Characters: 4.5/5

This is the best book in the trilogy as it gives a wonderful ending to the series. Nathaniel and Kitty work on their ambitions throughout the book, and Bartimaeus keeps us entertained with his groans and cribs on how weak he is getting every second.  For the protagonists, good enough. But for the negative part...Makepeace didn't do a very good job, though the characterization of Hopkins as a the most forgetful appearance was innovative. Something that I have come across in no novel. 

Concept: 5/5

Series as a whole, Bartimaeus Trilogy holds good to its name. The whole plot involves Bartimaeus in many ways, apart from the mere fact that the main character summons him every book. The whole concept of Ptolemy's Gate (not the book, the element) is wonderful and original. Besides, equalling this marvellous creation is the idea of djinn entering human bodies and working...all I can say is...FREAKING RAD!!!

Description: 4.5/5

Description has got a very new dimension in this book. The way Jonathon describes The Other Place, well that's amazing indeed. I've not seen any such thing even in the Inheritance Cycle, a series that I had fancied for a while, sometime back. In a nutshell, the author has successfully described the nothingness of a place. Often, description of a place gets bigger as the place is more ornate with different elements, but this one is bland. It's just like the quantum theory in a more comprehensive way. The bland parts were when Nathaniel goes with Barty to the park of some sort....I had to read those narrations more than once to get a clear picture.

Sense: 5/5

Sense, you mean sense? Of course, it's completely sensible. Nothing is out of the box, except for the author's thought process. The story is also constructed to a large extent on human tendencies, and characteristics, which gives a very nice shape on the whole.

End Note:

This is the only book I've completed in my short vacation, and I'm proud of having read it. The story portrays one particualar moral very beautifully: Trust. Trust is what works around in this world. How do you accept that prescription your doctor gives you...? Now, you don't go around looking for his qualification, whether he passed his medical exams by fair means, or cheated...we just TRUST him, and it does work. This is what the author has conveyed, that the humanity is constructed, connected, and now fuctions only on trust, faith and acceptance, qualities one should never abandon, lest he shall never live a good life.

Dew Point

Hello friends,

My final examinations are finally over, and I'm quite glad it has. My chemistry has got blown out, but I'm expecting a decent score in the others.

By the title, I'm not referring to the physics books by any chance. In the past one year, I've listened to music by about 40 bands, ranging across different genres. Inspired, I set out to make music.

Last year, I had featured an online music sequencing software called 'Musicshake.' It is the one I've used to make a few songs. I've also compiled all of them to make a playlist 'Dew Point.' It's not an album, as the whole playlist does not stick to one single concept.

The whole process was interesting, and has allowed me to explore different aspects of music. The software has a very easy to use interface unlike other music sequencers. Klaus had once stated "Making music isn't a walk in the park," it sure isn't, but it's fun all the same!

I'm embedding the playlist into this blog, but before that, let me tell you a little about each song.

The Chase: This was the first song I had made using the software. The concept of the song is a car chase, set in a little gloomy background. I had used different effects to get it out right.

Evry1: It stands for Everyone, as most of you would know, in the Texting-Language. This song is a typically Linkin Park inspired song with distorted guitars and growling rap. My first song of hard rock/nu metal genre.

I Know: I Know is an alternate rock song with rap and vocals, with an electronic-drum beat. Also contains a scratch track in the closing bars of the song. Personally, it's my favourite.

My Way: I composed My Way as a song to have many acoustic tunes together, but I ended up making a soft ballad-like song. Do comment on this, particularly.

In My Life: In My Life is a song composed keeping thrash metal in mind, a song inspired by Linkin Park's Breaking the Habit, and Metallica's Battery(though riffs aren't as great).

In:Ma:Lyf Rmx: This is a sort of Remix-ed version of In My Life, with dark bass line in the beginning, opening into rap, and then a metal/alt. rock.

Do listen to all the song, and comment. And one more thing, I haven't written the lyrics, but just have selected the vocal and rap pieces, and secuenced them. The only things I've done are the chords part, and programming the drum beats. Well, I'm using complex terms, but once you people check out the actual software, you'd realize how absurdly simple all these things are actually are.

 

Here's my previous blog on Musicshake: http://classicwebs.blogspot.com/2008/08/featuring-musicshake.html

Alright then, off I go and write a little bit of The Templar of Light. I'll post an excerpt out of it soon.

Till then,

Keep Singing,

Cya,

Templar AKA Sumanth

Good News - Bad News

Hello all,

Yes, I can assure that the heading justifies the content of this blog, with good and bad news that I've come across recently. My pre-boards are over, and I got a mediocre 85%, yeah...sucked at chemistry as ever.

The All India Test Series that I had taken, has fetched a decent result. I've got a 70 percentile, among all the IIT aspirants in India...which gives me something bright to look at.

My board-examinations have started, and we've done so far with our languages, and math. Science left. I'm looking forward for these days to get over fast so I can start with the things I've planned this vacation for..here they are:

1. Study for the 'grand' reshuffling test ( sorry, but that's inevitable!)

2. Proceed on with another major part of my story

3. Music(yeah, I'm waiting to get hold of many new albums and songs, as suggested by Klaus.)

4.Guitar Lessons- I'm planning to start learning solos now that I'm fairly able to switch between the chord progressions..

Alright, now to the main part, I've got a few good and bad things to talk about. 

First, my dad recently got a new Blackberry  Pearl 8110, and it is simply freaking! The very interface is convinient to use, along with the softwares and other applications which indeed are the reason for Blackberry's greatness. The music quality is also impressive, very comparable to an iPod Shuffle, the camera is a nice 2MP with flash. Originally, there was only one game, which is a brick 'n' ball game, but other games are available on the net, and I'm waiting to download and check how they work, though I don't really fancy much of games, especially on handhelds that are meant for some other purpose.

Now for the bad part of the good news (that's little funny...yeah, sometimes I do end up being pesimistic): The bluetooth feature of the Blackberry is absolutely troublesome. I tried pairing with my mom's phone (and somewhat mine), which is a Samsung E250, and there were no leads, all I could do was transfer the address book, or send things. But the actual purpose I paired them for, which was transferring other multimedia files from the Sammy to the Blackberry, failed. Yeah, I'm trying to find out what the problem is. Anyway, it did work with my cousin's Nokia Express Music. Let's see.

Other bad news are actually news for me, which are bad. I mean, two new things that came out recently, and gave me a bad impression. First, is Amazon Kindle 2, and the all-new iPod Shuffle.

I've not yet seen any sense in buying oneself a console, separately for reading eBooks. Actually, I'm not for any gadget that has only a single functionality; one only ends up having multiple gadgets at a time, and the word 'portable' goes irrelevant there. Amazon Kindle was a so-so piece of science, but Kindle 2 astounded me more. And I thought only apple did such foolish things. Yeah, they indeed resorted to stupidities in Kindle 2 such as sealing the device, so memory cannot be extended. Moreover, the device does not support .pdf or other files that are generated by popular word processors. WTF?

Second thing I wanted to talk about is, as I mentioned, the new iPod shuffle that came out very recently. It has no buttons on the device. The piece costs a $80 and gives you a decent memory of 4GB. I also heard, that the buttons are fixed to the earphones, and thus sealing the accessory-part. Now even if the earbuds of ur new piece gets spoilt, and you gotta' shell out flat $30 for new ones! That's indeed atrocious, but no surprise from apple :P. Apple has also drastically shrunk the size of Shuffle to the size of a U-clip, which can easily slip out of your pocket and fall on the cushions! The clip provided is made of stainless steel, so a firm grip can be expected. The new shuffle also comes with voice menu that will read out the title of each song as you browse through the list. Yeah, no screen in this one, which is one big similarity to the old shuffle. Ergonomically, the new Shuffle seems to be much more uncomfortable, as you would have to raise your hand to your ears each time you want to jump a song, or pause, or play...which is...aweful indeed!

Anyway, these are just my opinions. Agree? Differ? Sumanth's all ears!

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So off I go, I gotta' take my lunch, and gear up for the preparation of my next exam, which is Physics. Yes, it's easy, but Sumanth, the Templar does not believe in taking many risks.

Cya,

Templar AKA Sumanth