Saturday, September 30, 2006

Custom Message v2.0

It has been quite some time since I last wrote about the custom status messages that have been gracing messenger windows, both mine and also some friends’. This time around, apart from status messages, there will also be some one-liners that I have at times used as forum signatures.

Well the status messages are usually for expressing yourself at that time, but if one does not feel like it, there’s a way as HellFragger aptly displayed
“I don’t have a status right now.”

Then there always are status messages that show you the philosophical side of life. Koba let me know that “Life is what happens when you’re busy making plans for the future.”

More about life from the self proclaimed undead Vampire A.k.a PJ
“Life’s not what they think it is, but it’s also not what you think it is.”

Manuj adds that “the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.” Not too bad a solution I guess.

Then there are people who still hate Newton for getting pissed at the apple that fell on his head centuries ago. They say gravity makes everything fall, but these people prefer to differ.
“There’s no such thing as Gravity. Actually the Earth sucks.” – RiDo
“Gravitation doesn’t make people fall in love.” – Nilanjan

Then there are those who use cryptic methods of self expression through these status messages. De-abbreviated messages are one method.
SIERRA TANGO FOXTROT UNIFORM – Arvind
FOXTROT UNIFORM BRAVO ALPHA ROMEOSudu
These messages were seen at the same time, and are sort of complementary. You are likely to say the first when in the second state.

Some creative people can put things we see daily into something really striking, and this is what Sonik has done
“Black stars in a white sky…….. Spiders on the roof”
“I am so self centered that I carry my own photo in my wallet.”

The post would not be complete without a geeky message, and Ravemz’s message fit the bill perfectly
“You know it’s Love when you memorize her IP address to skip DNS overhead”

Work-pressure can drive you to the limits, and then the mind comes up with explanations
“If you think your boss is stupid, remember you wouldn’t have a job if he were any smarter”Bhavesh

UPDATE: Something about life from Bhavesh: "Life is like quotations. Sometimes, it makes you laugh. Sometimes, it makes you cry. Most of the time, you don't get it." /UPDATE

Work also makes one realize the truth, as in the case of Mallu uncle.
“There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about.”
“The world has ended, you’re just in denial”

Exam time is always a good time to look out for freaky status messages. This one was contributed by a friend.
“A rose would smell the same, whether I know the f***ing structure of geraniol or not”
(Geraniol is an alcohol with fragrance like that of a rose. Maybe it is found in rose petals, only the biotech professor who set the examination paper would know about this for sure.)

Then there are some quotes in movies and stuff that are worth a lot more than the few seconds they linger on screen.
“The Hell I send him to will feel like heaven after what I’ve done to him”, quote from the cult movie Sin City and also Drummie’s status message.
“It’s not the fall that kills you. It’s the sudden stop at the bottom that does.” From the game Chronicles of Riddick
“If your head hurts, it’s your brain trying to comprehend its own stupidity”, Red’s wisdom from That 70’s show.
The last two have been my signatures at the forums that I haunt.

I solemnly swear that I am completely apolitical, but this message here deserves a mention. Was Recca chan’s.
“If cons are the opposite of pros, then congress is the opposite of progress.”

New Template and dual monitor


So I recently saw anshul's blog. with this newfangled dynamic template that scrolled up and down, and I hadta do something about my blog template as well. Went to his template provider's site and found one that was suitable. Also, having that background image was necessary, so modifying the available one was inevitable.

Well, here's the result, hope you like it.

And oh yeah, this modification process was made really easy by having a dual monitor setup handy, helps in comparing codes and watching previews while the main workspace always remains maximised. The clutter of wires and power cables running around the room matters not.


Sunday, September 24, 2006

Status Quo

As I listen to High Hopes by Pink Floyd for the umpteenth time in my permanent “repeat” Winamp play-list, I realize that my life has also become the same. A repeating play-list of sorts. A constant state of deja-vu prevails, with each day so similar to the last one that the only thing that differentiates them is the date display on my watch.

The days, and even weeks are so similar and monotonous that an onlooker would be able to set his watch by my actions. Up early, leave for office at 0800, in punch at 0820, lunch at 1300, out punch at 1731, and back home. Stare at the computer monitor for a few hours, take dinner and bed. Rinse and repeat this every working day of the week. Then comes Sunday which goes flashing by at a hundred miles an hour. The only thing that changes with each passing week is the list of “to-do things” that grows longer and longer.

Things like rearranging the bookshelf to remove all the papers I dump there, properly file those and put them away at some safe place, rebuilding that old computer to working condition, completing the tag that some other blogger has tagged me with, finishing that videogame I have played till midway, hanging the world map that fell off the wall because of a broken string, going on that bike ride I have been thinking of for ages, starting photography as a hobby, recoding the blog template.....
The list goes on and on, always increasing in length. They say Sundays are for doing these of things. I say Sunday is for taking some rest because come Monday and it will be another long and tiring week at the office. The gloomy repeat play-list haunts me again with the same songs. Dad says I need to do some exercise to lift my spirits. I say I am tired enough already.

As the play-list takes me to Hurt by Johnny Cash, I realize that the purpose I started writing this post was not to rant about how there is an endless list of things to do, but to try and find an outlet for troubles and worries and fears and thoughts that have been burdening me as much as Atlas would be burdened if the planet he carried were Saturn or Jupiter. Turns out they are so deep rooted and I am so f***ing afraid that I won’t even be able to write them down on a private diary, let alone this blog that is theoretically accessible to billions. Turns out I am not strong enough to face them. Turns out they need to be kept buried in the folds of the grey matter filled inside my head. Turns out I need to stick to this monotony called life. Turns out that I need to live this gloomy deja-vu to the end of time.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

the Red Baron says goodbye

Today kinda marked the end of an era in the world of motorsports. Formula 1 to be precise. Today was the day when the greatest F1 driver of all times, Michael Schumacher announced his retirement after winning the Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix with relative ease.

His career statistics are perhaps the best that will ever be seen in Formula 1. Perhaps no driver would ever be able to match what he has achieved in the 16 years that he has been in the sport. As of today (10th September 2006, after the 2006 Italian Grand prix) from 247 Formula 1 races, he has 90 wins, 68 pole positions, 153 podium finishes, a total tally of 1354 points scored, 7 world championships (with his sights set on an 8th), and a whole flurry of other records that can be seen here. With three more races to go before he hangs up his gloves, these stats can only get better. (Will update the stats at the end of the season).

Having been given nicknames like "the rainmaster" for his prowess in the wet track conditions, "red baron" for his dominating track presence in Ferrari's trademark red color, and even "cannibal" for his dominance of formula 1 and record breaking style, his has been a career with both ups and downs. Seven world championships and zillions of other records on one hand, and another zillion controversies on the other. His was an era of Formula 1 that will never be matched again.

When we see the last of Schumacher on a F1 track at the Brazilian Grand Prix on October 22nd, it will be a sad day. It will be the day when the best ever Formula 1 driver waves goodbye. Whether or not he wins or loses the 2006 Formula 1 drivers' championship, that'll be a day when his fans will have tears in their eyes, yours truly perhaps among them.