State of the Hardware

Wow, what a huge change in the landscape between my last post and this one. While Intel still remains the king of the hill, AMD has atleast brought the Phenom to life. While the Barcelona is a long way off from even matching the Wolfdale, much less the Penryn( let’s leave overclocking a long way back please), it does hit the sweet spot on the wallet.

Look at it this way, a Phenom, coupled with a 790 mobo leaves you with enough money to splurge on a 9600 GT or a 3870 card. And a 700 Watt PSU. Plus the fact that most games aren’t optimized for dual cores even today, leaves a lot of headroom for the future.

Personally though, I must admit that the PC’s gaming days seem to be numbered. I have been a keyboard mouse faithful for ever since I can remember, but having purchased a 360 last year, I can confidently say, that for the same amount of money, no PC can guarantee a smooth experience for the next 3 years atleast.

If you are looking to get a console, get the PS3. with the victory of the Blu Ray, and the upcoming metal gears solid 4, the PS3 remains a no brainer. But my next console will be a wii.

As fer the mobiles, my heart remains set on the iphone, but the ridiculous price tag ( I can get a wii for much less u know), plus the fact that iphone clones can be had for around half the price make it tough to justify.

What the hell, dissing the iphone is the luxury of the haves. So let this have not progress in life to own one and join the crowd of those who say “ it’s too much of a luxury”..
Amen..

ReLoaded

well, here i am, after a very long hiatus. What was I upto? Well, after scraping through college, relatively unscathed, it was time to fulfil certain social obligations and enter the world of jealousy, scheming, comparisons, naked ambition and greed. No, not the cricket field, but corporatedom.

While discretion is definitely the better part of valor when it comes to describing your first paycheck, the first splurge, the first regret, and the realization at the end of six months, that there are no savings worth the name. suffice to say, that certain lessons have been learned.

Hmm, moving onto other things, the world seems to be engrossed in the presidential tamasha going on in the amrika, john mc cain and the GOP must be rubbing hands in glee. Hell of a head start to a presidential campaign if you ask me.

Congrats to dhoni and company. All of a sudden, the same guy who was questioned for dropping Sourav ( Gasp!! The audacity!! The gall of it!!) is now being hailed as a visionary!!

Here’s hoping history remembers me that kindly.
Well, consider this more as a prologue. There’s more to come, more regularly from now on.

Cheers all

black Mark ?

The Indian media and the Asian media at large, have gone all over town, hailing Dr. Haneef’s release by the Australian authorities, as a victory for democracy. While that particular emotion might have justifiable ground, to prosper, there’s a larger malaise that has gone unremarked upon.

My beef( god forbid!!!) is that no one seems to be asking the Australian immigration minister, who had ordered the cancellation of Dr. Haneef’s visa, ( “ it was done, keeping in mind his CHARACTER”), on what basis, he made his (un)sound judgement.

In any normal, justice dispensing process, Dr. Haneef could successfully sue the Australian government, for slander. Without any conclusive proof to backup the illegal detention, on the flimsiest of excuses ( he was a 2^nd cousin, for god’s sake, even siblings often have no clue what their relations are upto!!), an Indian citizen, was detained and his character was under scrutiny and then released, without an acceptance of a mistake, nor an apology.

But why blame just the Australian minister alone? After all, this is a country where a marvel like muralitharan is regularly jeered for throwing, while brett lee is held up for public adoration.. Perish the thought, this isn’t racism. But truth be told, atleast the judiciary proved it’s impartial credentials, by calling a spade a spade.

No, what really got me worked up, is that while the central government was silent and working in the back channels, the Karnataka government took it upon itself, to suddenly announce how it was helping the authorities to uncover terrorism related information!!! In the rush to earn some praise, the first commandment of law- Innocent till proven guilty, was forgotten.

A hapless wife was left to defend and plead for her husband’s release, in the media.

Yet another chapter in the 3^rd world, where subservience to the 1^st world( why exactly are we 3^rd? I do not know) continues unabashed. Where a Pakistan regularly throws it’s citizens to an American prison, for FOREIGN exchange.. Where India accepts a humiliating 123 nuclear deal, to get American acceptance of it’s nuclear status..

When will we realize, that today, we are the biggest market for the so called developed world? When will we gather our collective arms and flex them for our benefit? When will we start demanding treatment as equals? When shall we start promoting regional unity and pride?

Maybe never.. maybe never..

A matter of Alma Mater

forgive me, if i switch back to my school days, when i used to watch WWF..

" Finally... I've gone back, to being... a Newbie again"..

college just got over. Not as in end of semester. But as in KAPUT!! BANG!! Adios kind.

while there is the usual grumbling of what little good an education of 5 years did to me, which of course is the badge of the student tribe, there is an unexpected hollowness too.

This arose when i wrote a poem dedicated to my class ( which has thus far, only been appreciated by exactly ONE person). Here's a list of things that i think i will miss the most about my college.

1) unsurprisingly , first on the list are the 10 best friends i have made.. hey, i do sometimes get sentimental you know.. NOT!!!

2) The absolutely fantastic college grounds, which we made good use of. battles were fought, and invariably lost, when i used to play.. must be coincidence

3) even when i used to feel like i hadn't learned anything useful yet, there was always that comfortable thought- " I still have 5 more years, 4 more, 3 more, 2 more, 1 more, NO MORE!!! oh the tragedy!!!"

4) The ridiculously inexpensive canteen where even i could afford to hog out.. of course there were only 3 items i ever ate, but that's another story.

5) the look of respect i used to get, when i declared myself a student of ANNA UNIV.. and the inevitable look of disappointment when i burst the bubble and confessed to being a student of Electronic ( oh, you mean computers!!) Media.

6) My delightful class, with the 63 most decent and nicest human beings to ever have been assembled in a classroom. Exaggerated sense of modesty prevents me from adding my name on that list.

7) The 2 Funtastic IVs we went on. nuff said about them.

8) Always asking for a treat, always getting the same answer- " what the hell will u eat?"

and the worst part is.. now i am officially a member of that club, which i used to ridicule as a child. Now, i must become a pompous dandy, who must never watch cartoons again, worry about bank balances, careers, property, get acidity while keeping tabs on classmates, worry about that bulging waistline, try to act like 18, when i'm 80, argue to all that i do not wear a wig..

OH GOD, Have mercy.. i am ( GULP!!!) an Adult...