ironic...

I never switch off my computer. Ever. The coming exam's freaked me out totally and I had to give in to the pressure. I'm sitting right there and distraction's just a power switch away...

Anyway,I was reading under a zero watt bulb and decided to test my Camera's prowess once again. Switched to manual mode and set a 30 second shutter for this one. I set a 10 second timer and dashed to the chair to pose with my textbook. Admired my dirt cheap camera once again and fell back into study mode.....

It'll be over soon....

KCR called off his fast. Come on man! One more day and JNTU would have cancelled our exam!
It's 21:00 now, and my preparation for tomorrow's exam.... just half the syllabus. I've just hit a new shameful low in academic ignorance....

Exam in 17 hours from now, meaning an effective prep time of about 10 hours. Did a lil math in my head, it should be enough. Provided I don't waste three more hours here watching Malgudi Days and waiting for red flags on FB....

uhuh, Wikipedia!!!

Wikipedia is the answer to everything. Assignments, exams, projects...whatnot. But I guess wiki hates reality TV too. I searched for "Splitsvilla" and had the laugh of my life... Enlarge pic to see what I mean.

Woh din bhi the...

The 90s were a period of transition. India was transforming- Cities were evolving and so were the people. I was a kid and I have some very vivid memories of this period, like the now extinct Opel Astra I used to gawk at, or the Ford escort with it's unique 'sheepish smile' grill. Other memorable cars from the period include the Tata Sierra, Estate and the iconic contessa. Malls were unheard of. A 'street' called Abids and a few at Charminar were the de facto avenues for shopping. There were some big retail outlets too but were out of reach for most.

Television saw remarkable growth in the 90s and was initially dominated by DoorDarshan to be later replaced by other private networks. Some of my favorites from DD include School Days, Alif Laila, "the mile sur..." commercial and many others. Private networks gave us classics too, Filmi chakkar and Hum paanch were laugh riots. Oh, who could forget those "Asian sky shop" ads. Anhonee and Aahat deserve special mention. Both had spine chilling theme music.
DD Metro introduced me to chip n Dale rescue rangers. Then came ZEE tv's Disney Hour with Talespin, Ducktales, Aladdin, Little Mermaid and the new Goof troop, Darkwing Duck and Bonkers. I even watched the telugu versions on disney Sandhya!
Actually I could write a whole series of posts on disney features. Next...

Indipop. Bombay vikings, Baba Sehgal, Remo, Sonu Nigam and many others were instrumental in shaping the indipop scene. Even Shiamak Davar in his short stint gave us a couple of memorable tunes before moving to Dance. Then came the sensation that was Alisha Chinoy. I still have that "Made in India" cassette Dad bought more than a decade ago! The genre now has moved to trash remixes with vulgar lyrics or crapped renditions of good movie songs.

----------------------------------------------------
We have better cars now.Audis and BMWs are the new benchmarks for 'rich'. The shift is now towards 'sports centred' sedans and SUVs. Apna Sachin drives a Ferrari Modena and some guy in Mumbai bought a Lamborghini Murcielago. I even saw a Maserati recently at a filling pump nearby. Malls...they're everywhere now, no description needed. Music has diversified and we've made great inroads into fusion, trance and even hip hop. TV is a different story. Some are hailing the new "reality" shift. I completely despise it. Young idiots battling it out for a karizma(go get a life dude!). Girls speaking filth, rona dhona antics in competitions for TRP...I donno if it's just me but I hate reality shows. And I've never seen a single episode.

Some videos I found on youtube...





This song by Vikas Bhalla is so sweet I remember the lyrics more than ten years on! Some good chap uploaded this video on youtube(bad quality though)

Old Man and the sea duck: My favorite Talespin episode.



More like a lesson in living for small kids, this 1934 cartoon feature is memorable, and who could forget "Mehnat karney sey kya fayda?"




An ode to friendship. Those watching for the first time are bound to fall off their chairs laughing. For old timers though...the quirky choreography is no problem. It's pure nostalgia for me...



A quick search on youtube is all that is needed to relive the great decade that was the 90s.

Don't 'test' me...

Exam: Information Security

Lack of sleep messed me up and I was struggling with a bad headache on the way to college. Tried to get some sleep but the bus made an abrupt stop near Gurukul School due to some admin glitch. The sun was shining straight on my face and the bright rays sent me reeling with nausea. Reached college late, had puri and headed for the fields again. The wind was pretty strong and chilly and I was in no mood for study, the headache was steadily worsening. A coupla hours later, I offered prayers at the college Mosque and headed straight to the exam hall...

The invigilator was a very annoying mech lecturer who made us remove our shoes, socks and wallets. Everyone was greeted with a warm "Please surrender any loose papers or chits".

The papers arrived at 2:10

I always give a quick scan to try and identify the questions I know. So as my eyes fast focussed on the first question, My jaw fell open...."aw shit". I looked at the second, third, fourth....NO...
I looked around at the bewildered faces. Sir realised something was amiss. I called him over and told him what was wrong.
They'd given us the wrong F...ing paper! The exam was Information Security and the paper was Software Testing methodologies. JNTU had released the wrong question paper. JNTU, seriously...why are you guys guys so F...d?


The reserve papers arrived a good half an hour later. I scribbled through it but was glad I'd answered all.
On my way back the bus was caught in the Id-Ul-Zuha rush and I reached home by 8.
Looking forward to ID festivities tomorrow. But I know it won't be much fun. As they say home is where the heart is....

TranceUpdate

Great track by BT, Every Other Way remixed by AvB himself. ASOT 422

Is it strange
That I call you?
Oh do you think
That I might forgive?

I wish I could run
To you and you meet me
You know I can’t be found
For long

I don’t feel me now
Cause there’s a lot of time to waste
Don’t shut me out
We should await another day

And I’ve searched for you
And my heart has been chased
Hear me yell
It’ll be the only chance to say

Hold me now
I said it every other way
Hold me now
I said it every other way


I don’t feel me now
Cause there’s a lot of time to waste
Don’t shut me out
We should await another day

And I’ve searched for you
And my heart has been chased
Hear me yell
It’ll be the only chance to say
Hear me yell
It’ll be the only chance to say

Hold me now
I said it every other way

(The guy who posted the lyrics on www.trancefix.nl is not sure about some words though)

Halfway thru...

ACC was special. Textbooks we never used much, the stinker was that there was no AiO to study from.Our library didn't have any. Nor did any big bookstores in Hyderabad.
ACC requires 3 textbooks(and several reference books) and after a long tiring search, I got myself one on pervasive computing. It covered 2 units out of 8! I had to do all my study from the internet and my, what pain it was. My printer is lying useless in Manuguru. I'm certain it's anything but useful now, all ink nozzles must have dried up.

So, I painstakingly made my QuicNotes and fell asleep at around 2 A.M. As usual, was up at 6 and in college by 9. Hakeem, Vishal and I sneaked off into the woods behind our campus and settled down under a tree. The view was great.
The breeze was refreshing, the shade comforting and the wide sprawling sunflower fields reminded me of DDLJ.....



I snapped back to reality and got down to business. The next three hours were spent in serious study save for a few quirky one-liners from our 'cool' Vishal. Then came exam time. Exam,as ever, was a wreck. Not that I dinno the answers. The problem was time. Maybe it's my handwriting that is to blame...or maybe those blokes at JNTU donno s#!+ how to set papers.




I'm sick of exams. Having written 5 regular examination(1st year+4 semesters) I have to admit I've lost interest now. There was a time when I'd write long, legible and correct answers and still be out of the exam hall a good half an hour before time.I used to score well too :-(

Now, writing one answer is a long haul let alone full paper!

On & On

Surprises are coming from very unexpected quarters these days. Just when I'd given up hope on getting a Passport, relief came in the form of simultaneous enquiries at both places(Hyderabad and Manuguru), which went very well.
My internet account was to lapse today and I was already lamenting about it on facebook, twitter and whatnot when Dad called and gave me the go ahead to use his credit card. A minute later, my connection balance was full and so was my heart, of elation.

All good things must come to an end. And I have my 3rd exam tomorrow. To quote "I have a really baad feeling about this..."

Torn between Facebook and study. Curiously no one was online and study eventually won!

how uoy dion?

Typographical errors are a real pain. Although most typos like 'teh','waht' are harmless, some can really wreak havoc. Companies lose credence when typos are found on their products. A Japanese trading firm lost $225 million due to a silly spelling mistake by one of the employees, One typo in the resume and you're done for. There always are exceptions...on Ebay typos mean great bids!


Yesterday while chatting with a friend I inadvertently misspelled a phrase and didn't notice the meaning had gone horribly wrong! Thank god I got a quick enquiring from the other party who couldn't believe it. I apologized and was glad the issue got sorted . I'm no touch typist and typing on my unilluminated keyboard with the lights out is really difficult. The only light I get is from the monitor, which is negligible.


Better safe than sorry. My next purchase will be a USB light for my keybroad.....ehh... keyboard.

It's still ON!!!!
Heaven knows why....

When was the last time I stood in line for a train ticket? I don't remember. It's been more than three years since the introduction of the irctc portal and it's changed rail travel completely. No wonder it's the largest e-commerce site in India. No more pushing and yelling in endless lines and not knowing a thing about availability status.
When was the last time I wrote a letter? When I was 12 I wrote a letter to my Uncle abroad for a video game. I think that was it. E-mail killed post,period.
Long ago Dads used to send money to their 'far away' kids via money order, with one-line sentiments attached! Now Dad sends me money through online money transfer which I instantly get hold of from the nearest ATM. An sms is all that is needed for sending an ACK. When I feel a little down I print a ticket and I'm off! No "mummy...yaad arahi hai...", I just go.

Networking, Some people don't talk much. Not that they're wicked or anything, it's just that they can't muster up the courage fearing embaressment. ahem...I think had the same problem once but I think those days re now gone. This blog is testimony more or less. I rant too much now.... courtesy the internet.

Youtube,cracked,listverse,oddee,time...the list is endless.

I have "Advanced Computing concepts" on wednesday. I don't have one textbook for this one yet I have all the info I need.

Nuff said....my point- Can't imagine life without internet.

My connection expires in exactly 4 hours from now. I don't have time to get a new voucher. So guess I'll to wait a week atleast.

Inte-rest-ing...

Napoleon once said, “There are two levers for moving men: interest and fear.”

The former I don't have. The latter does not kick in until the very last minute. I now have 60 hours left for my next exam. Enough for a thorough study and revision but...I know that ain't possible. Laziness is one trait I'm not very proud of... and it's not like I don't try. I manage to sit for about 10 minutes when the devil in me takes over. I'm off my chair in a jiffy and head for the TV or my desktop. Or I stifle a yawn and catch a quick nap(curiously, this happens only during exams!)
Interest or fear are not here yet so I will be spending the next few hours blogging and FBing.

A little while ago there was a powercut and I managed to grab a coupla pics of a matchstick in action!


My desktop wallpaper, to cheer myself up...

Green@home

Developed countries account for most of the pollution and yet don't want to act unless the 'other' countries follow suit. US of A produces almost one fourth of the World's Carbon dioxide but guess what, they want the developing nations to limit industrial production and "make environment safer". WTF? Global Warming ruffles them up totally. They don't give a hoot about Maldives or anyone for that matter.
A former US vice president once said "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it." Wow, that's a revelation!

Plastics pollute air, water and earth and there is no way of disposing them safely. Let's face it, Plastic is indestructable. Granted they're mighty useful in varied applications but some are ridiculously unnecessary.


Take for instance Plastic bags. The shiny red covers at Central or the ones at the local mandi are all manufactured using the same process(which in itself is quite harmful).
Paper bags, Jute bags, cotton bags... they look neat, aesthetic and are reusable too. On my visit to Ooty I was amazed to learn plastic use was prohibited. When will the other bigger,much polluted Cities learn?

I made some paper bags myself and found they're not hard to make(video here) and quite useful for carrying stuff. It takes not more than a couple of minutes to make one. It's literally free-old newpaper, ruler and a stapler are all that is required. A small step towards environment protection is enough. There are thousands of tutorials on the internet for recycling stuff, saving power and cutting down on pollution.

All it takes is awareness and some effort.

In Picture: The paper bag in the middle is my new netbook sleeve! The one on the right is holding a couple of apples and the small white bag can be used for pens or stationary.

yes, I don't want you to hide...

Undisclosed Desires by Muse. Just what I needed for my disoriented mind. Awesome lyrics, soothing rhythm. Wait, why I'm I moving to alternative rock now? Who cares...awesome track.

I know you suffered
But I don't want you to hide
It's cold and loveless
I won't let you be denied

Soothe me
I'll make you feel pure
Trust me
You can be sure

I want to reconcile the violence in your heart
I want to recognize your beauty is not just a mask
I want to exorcise the demons from your past
I want to satisfy the undisclosed desires in your heart

You take your lovers that you're wicked and divine
You may be a sinner
But your innocence is mine

Please me
Show me how it's done
Tease me
You are the one

I want to reconcile the violence in your heart
I want to recognize your beauty is not just a mask
I want to exorcise the demons from your past
I want to satisfy the undisclosed desires in your heart

Please me
Show me how it's done
Trust me
You are the one

I want to reconcile the violence in your heart
I want to recognize your beauty is not just a mask
I want to exorcise the demons from your past
I want to satisfy the undisclosed desires in your heart

hee haw, boo hoo

Exam: Mobile Communications

My posts have gotten very melancholy for the past few days but no more than this one.

First things first. Got a call from Passport Office yesterday.They responded after 6 friggin months! The guy was coming to college today and wanted the relevant documents and photos. I was really excited and even drew plans to book my GRE and TOEFL slots. I am very poor at switching tasks so I just couldn't get myself to study and killed time on my desktop.

Woke to a cheerful, sunny day with lotsa hope. At college settled under a tree and started revising...wait...something was amiss. I was not revising. I stared at the text. CSMA,ISMA,PRMA,Hash Indexing...wtf? I'd given this unit a miss,heaven knows
why. Then the Passport guy called for the verification formalities. Half an hour and 500 bucks later it was done. I was elated. for a while atleast. And oh, no headache today!

I was all smiles as I entered the exam hall. I saw a girl sitting on my bench and slowed down...was I in the wrong room? I smiled. She gave a stern look and before I had time to think I saw the answer sheets beside her. Damn, she was the invigilator.

The question papers arrived and that smile I mentioned about earlier vaporized, replaced by sheer horror. While normally I manage to answer 4 and scribble my way to the 5th, here I knew only one! The rest were the exact same questions I'd skipped.
Shaken that I was I managed to crawl through 3 questions before my fuse blew. I couldn't take it any more. I was writing too much bulls#$%. There is a limit for everything, innit?

Was all gloomy on the way back. Not that I always write well. I'm pretty average in that regard but today's paper is a new benchmark.

My bad luck streak continues....

Uprising...

Great Song by Muse

"Paranoia is in bloom,
The PR transmissions will resume,
They'll try to push drugs that keep us all dumbed down,
And hope that we will never see the truth around
(So come on)
Another promise, another scene,
Another packaged lie to keep us trapped in greed,
And all the green belts wrapped around our minds,
And endless red tape to keep the truth confined
(So come on)

They will not force us,
They will stop degrading us,
They will not control us,
We will be victorious
(So come on)

Interchanging mind control,
Come let the revolution take it's toll,
If you could flick a switch and open your third eye,
You'd see that
We should never be afraid to die
(So come on)

Rise up and take the power back,
It's time the fat cats had a heart attack,
You know that their time's coming to an end,
We have to unify and watch our flag ascend

They will not force us,
They will stop degrading us,
They will not control us,
We will be victorious
So come on

They will not force us,
They will stop degrading us,
They will not control us,
We will be victorious"

Exam 1 : Dard e Disco again!

Exam 1 : Embedded Systems

Woke up to a really gloomy day. It was raining and the climate was so chilly, it took real effort to get out of bed. I dragged myself to my Study chair for some revision. Got ready by 6:30,had a bar of 5 Star crunchy for breakfast and I was off. Thank god I had my sweater on, it was very cold outside. The college refused arranging buses in the afternoon so we had to go along with the other students at 8:00 itself. Pricks! cost saving again.

Was tempted to grab a Garam chai at the canteen but thought better of it. Revised some more under the Masjid fascia. Exam was at 2 and there was no way I was going to study till then!
A mere one hour later it happened- just when I thought it would. The headache was so freaking severe, I could feel the nerves throb! I didn't have my meds today. I was panicking now. Washed my eyes with lots of water and hoped for the best.

Exam started at 2:00 sharp. The paper was a mild shock but OK. My confounded migraine was showing it's colors now as It took almost an hour to answer one question! 4 more to go and I wasn't up to it at all. The rest I wrote in shabby, unclear hand writing. Finished 4/5 at exactly 5:00! All said and done I was satisfied. ES no more. ever.

The return journey was agony, "chacha" killed me today. With each bump, my head drifted in and out of nausea and I counted each passing second waiting for the torture to end. It took more than 3600 seconds! I'm sipping on a hot mug of coffee now as I blog.

Dinner, Paracetamol and Bed... It's been a long, bad day.

while(1) {torture}

"It's not the quality but quantity that counts" - A lecturer, when I asked him how to score better in Exams.

There are lakhs of students pursuing their B.tech in Andhra Pradesh. We have a Curriculum and Exam pattern(I'm talking JNTU only) that is radically different from other states. We're not tested for knowledge here. A combination of good, legible handwriting and a
penchant for writing crap is all that is required to score marks.Longer the answer, more the marks. And yes, we don't study from Textbooks.

We have what is called an All-in-one(AIO) which we entirely depend upon. It's sold by the truckloads here. No student gives it a miss, bright or otherwise. It's like a Life buoy thrown to a drowning man. We hold on to it and make it to the coast.


It doesn't always help though. Answers are too short, the diagrams
are not detailed. Sometimes it gets the whole answer wrong.

And sometimes it gives us this:

Ek Machar...

Any thing can go wrong during exams...Misplaced hall ticket, Preparing for the wrong exam, Bus breakdown etc but the one that takes the cake when it comes to fouling things up is.... Health!

Swine flu, Dengue and the 'new' viral fever have joined forces to wreak havoc on us Students. Scores have fallen ill over the last few weeks and the scene at the local Hospital here is pure chaos. I don't think we were ever subjected to such an epidemic scenario before.
Just to be on the safe side I've placed Allout repellents everywhere including the hallway, on 24 hours. No outside food for a while too.
Why I'm I being so paranoid? Last semester I missed one exam due an allergic attack. I'm writing the supplementary exam next month! Arrears hurt really bad in Interviews!

Calm before the Estorm

"And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for not is our salvation nearer than when we believed."

It's funny how I never get to sleep well a day before important events. No matter how much I tried the constant whizzing of my computer and the hum of a distant generator kept bugging me until I knew there was no way I was going to sleep. I kept staring at the ceiling and the fan and tried to plan a schedule for the coming day(damned if it worked). I even gulped down a glass of Tang hoping the glucose might help. Thankfully I fell asleep at around 4.

I woke to the annoying shrill of my 'rooster' alarm at precisely 6:00 A.M. Changed quickly and started at 7:00. Boarded Route 13 at NMDC and tried to get some sleep. Our driver 'chacha' ensured I got very little(he never slows down at speed bumps).

At college, had light breakfast and headed straight to the exam office where I was met with an expected response : "yeh koi time hai. Baadme aao". May I add "baar baar aao", sir? I sticked around and got my hallticket atlast.

Had to catch an RTC bus on my way back. Uneventful journey save for the fact that the bus itself was the worst I ever saw, period. Man, the stink! I opened the window wide to stick out my head every once in a while for air.

First Exam day after tomorrow: Embedded Systems. hick!



The weather was great today btw. I love these clouds. So white, so pure,so free. So unlike me...

thru the fog...

(un)explained orbs

A very reliable "List site" in one of it's articles talked of an 'unexplained' phenomena, the Orb Effect.
In dark photos we sometimes see white specks or blobs, mostly irregular shaped and pale in color. They're visible only on close examination of the photograph. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that they're small flecks of dust on which the flash happened to bounce off.
Well, this site rubbished that explanation and gave it's account of the "unexplained and queer phenomena science has no answers to...". Duh!

Here's a picture I took from my terrace in Manuguru. We know the fine dust from the Paper Factory nearby is always in the air so the orbs here are expected. I did the same, here in Hyderabad(don't have the pics though) and the orbs are there.


------------Open pic to view the orbs clearly----------------


Actually this whole ordeal has incited a whole new interest in unexplained phenomena and mysteries. Like the Bermuda tranlge case or the Loch Ness monster, there are many more which have rational explanations to them.

TranceUpdate

Lifting Leaves(Original mix) by Estiva is one great track! They have a very distinct style and the instrumental score is the reason why I love trance so much. Very uplifting.

counting down...

Headache's at it's worst. Haven't been to college yet to collect my Hall ticket. Exam on coming Wednesday.
Time's running out. Fast.

Neckless Road

Every time I go to Necklace road, I always wonder how those speeding kids on their new age motor cycles pull of dangerous manoevres without as much as a thought to their own safety or the other pedestrians on the road. Numerous accidents happen on this stretch of road that has precarious turns, and not to mention the stinky mass of sludge that is Tank Bund to it's left.

I was returning home with Hakeem after a rather long book hunt for my Advanced Computing Concepts(phew!) textbook. Instead of taking the usual road through Saifabad to Lakdikapul, we turned right through Necklace road. On our right we saw a commotion and knew right away there had been an accident. Through the crowd I could see some red stuff...more like scattered pieces of flesh! My heart jumped.

We went closer and were relieved. It was oil and lots of bits and pieces of what had been the bike's red visor and mud guard. It was a Fazer I think.

Then someone pointed to a guy in the crowd, he looked young. Probably not even twenty. He'd crashed at high speed but was miraculously unharmed. He must have been reeeal lucky coz seldom do people escape unharmed in such cases. Why there's a place called phisalbanda where an accident can be written of as fatal.No chance of survival.

Manufacturers are pushing the envelope when it comes to power and speed but no one's paying attention to road safety. New bikes offer all the perks: speed,glamour, power etc but no thought is given to safety measures. Al the new ads are centred on "racing" engines. It's no breaking news that Indian road conditions are the worst,period. Khaddaas everywhere, we've even got them on our much publicized Outer Ring road!


Moral of the Story: ROAD SAFETY PLEASE!!!

What's with Google?

Same theme for the past one week.The Sesame Street doodles look cute though.

HTC magic Interface

I'm on cloud9!

The air was cold, the clouds dark and the cool breeze was just awesome. I grabbed my camera and went to the terrace to grab a few shots. Wow, last time I had an experience like this was in Manuguru. Hell, manuguru is a different story. The weather there is always good. Rains, winter or summer...
Ok where was I? Ya, the wind was getting stronger and I could the see the dark clouds advancing. There were lotsa birds, moving gracefully with the wind. Alas, their movments were so unpredictable and my camera auto focus so crappy, I stopped trying and just stood there to enjoy the breeze after grabbing a few blurry pictures.

A day like this can be very uplifting for stressed souls. Just grab a music player and head for the terrace. Or better still listen to the chirping of birds or the sweet whizzing of the wind[and filter out the city sounds if you can ;-) ]

Which also reminds me....Rain by ClAud9 is a great track! Recommended.

convergence

My desktop is where I spend most of my time. I have a netbook but the small sreen size and the cramped keyboard make prolonged use a pain. The now antique piece of furniture that is my computer table is dilapidated and wobbly but still holds togehter all the computer hardware in place and is indispensable(at least until I get a new one).

I've tried to use each and every nook and cranny available on the table to my advantage. right now the only things I am short is a nice printer and a pair of nice desktop speakers.

A few pics below:

My desktop. See the clutter of cables to the bottom right? Let's hope the future is wireless.


Attached a card Reader to the side for easy reach. It's not very good though(read Chinese)

Since I don't have good computer speakers here(miss my Creative system back home), I make do with these Panasonic earbuds. Sound great.

Extra USB port. Too many USB devices these days so an extra port is always good.


Cable clutter: cables for my phone and camera. The one on the left is the micro phone


Extra power strip for attaching more peripherals. Using Allout all 24hrs now!

aural freedom

I didn't get a pair of earphones with my 'new' HTC phone.It doesn't have a dedicated stereo port for music, a feature missed by many. I had to get a converter adaptor for the mini USB interface. Found one on ebay India and ordered it using my Dad's credit card. Package arrived yestday, very swift.
The adaptor cost Rs200 including shipping.I was apprehensive about it first. The build quality didn't seem right. Well, as of now there are no issues. My panasonic ear buds work perfectly. Sound quality is good.

MAD hogaya!!!

hee haw!!! done with my last lab exam. Infact the last in the whole engineering course. Got a very easy program and I was done writing it in 10 minutes flat. However execution took a while coz the systems used a different version of Flash I was not accustomed with. It came popping some odd class error(no fault of mine) and I had to change my system to get it right.
Viva was excellent. Answered all questions. After exam, went to the Exam office to see if they'd softened their stand. Nah, he refused to me hand me my Hall ticket. six months and It'll all be over...
For the first time, offered friday prayers at the college mosque itself with Hakeem leading. He did great on his debut friday speech!

We finally left at 2:00 and luckily got seats in a Super-luxury that later made us wonder if we were better off in some ordinary bus. Slowest ride ever. But I didn't curse the driver or the bus. I cursed my college. 40 kms of tortuous, narrow, killer road to Chevalla. God knows why they set it up so goddamned far from the city.
Four years of my life- for nothing. Thanks Pop. coff coff...enuf



Managed to grab a pic during the exam while invigilator was out! Khan sir 'interrogating' Farhan and Dinesh.

External Lab I : went well

No matter how much I tried I just couldn't memorize the programs in ES. I missed a few keywords here and there everytime. I gave up trying and focussed instead on the viva questions. Had a really bad stomachache today. Maybe those custard apples I had yesterday.Donno but hell of a problem :-(
Slept all the way to college today, the only time for productive study if you ask me. Skipped breakfast due to the ache and utilised the time to get HOD's signature on my Record. Ya, I'm always late.
Exam started right on time. Rehana Ma'am was merciless. I was the first one to finish wrting the program. I called her over and she immediately found an error and warned me with her Red pen. Actually she overreacted a lil bit. I'd forgotton a small argument somewhere. she later made up though and I was done executing the program flawlessly in no time. Viva was bad. he asked just two questions and I answered one wrong. Bad.
After exam I went to the Office where hall tickets where being issued. I have some Rs2300 due so I can't get my Hall ticket until I pay up. Damn, so much for my new phone. It could've waited fr a while....

Just aNother Terrible University

We all dread exams. Now I hate exams more than ever. It's got more to with the crappy Exam pattern JNTU uses.I'm sick of it. Osmania uses a standard pattern consisting of very small answers, medium ones and a coupla essays. But our confounded university expects us to write five 16 mark essays in 3 hours. Now consider this: You can never be sure of getting good grades. Hell, you can fail even if you're sure you got all answers right. The irony is, some fortunate blokes pass just by repeating the same crap in all five answers. Now beat that!

I have a very 'average' grade going by JNTU standards but I know I'm worth more. Assessing my abilities by grades would be foolish.

Wait...what I'm I doin? Random rants.....

Anyway, first lab external tomorrow: Embedded Systems. God give me strength.

Waiting for 01 December, Independance Day

Road safety plz

Update: Just got the news. That kid didn't make it. Apparently he was returning home from college on his bike when a stray dog came out of nowhere and he fell trying to avoid hitting it. Poor kid died on the spot. Sad.

Morning:
Having no idea where to get material for study I looked up "pervsive computing" on wikipedia. No problems with IS as I already had a couple of books for prep.
After a quick breakfast at the canteen, headed straight to ECE staff room to get my ES record corrected. Ma'am gave me a look that suggested 'Get the F out' and gruffly told me to meet the HOD coz she hadn't seen me in a while(never actually).
Wrote my ACC exam with whatever I remembered from the aforementioned wikipedia article. Went to ECE lab again. This time got a real badass warning so I ran straight to the HOD's office. After a very brief but interesting exchange of words with Sir and some staff bloke who was acting smart, I got my permission. Everything went smoothly from then on. Ma'am corrected my Record and notes and even arranged a Re-exam for the Lab test I'd missed last week.

Afternoon:
After lunch, wrote my IS rather well thanks to my study yesterday.
Witnessed a rather depressing scene today. At Moinabad on the way back from college I could see a crowd had gathered a little ahead. To the side of the road lay a Student, face down. There was a helmet a little further. He was still wearing his bag! In all the commotion, all I could see was a fairly ghastly scratch on his midriff. There was no blood though. Maybe he was dead. maybe not. But the scene wrenched my stomach. Everyone was just watching. Bad bad world.