KlueLESS2, the successor to the internet brainteaser KlueLESS, that I've already posted about, has been released. I shall post updates here as and when I struggle through it. Have fun!
Edit : How silly of me, I didn't tell you where it was.
Yesterday, I went to a rock music competition at a place near my erstwhile school. I went to see some of my friends who had come back from college in other cities for semester holidays. The point I wish to emphasize is that I even considered voluntarily listening to rock music. Let's just say it's not my cup of tea.
Actually, I didn't even go inside. My friends got put at 18th on stage, and at 25 minutes per team, that would land them up at somewhere near 23:30. I just came by, talked a bit and left.
When I was there, I saw what kinds of people (adolescents, in this case) are interested in rock. What I saw was a pretty sorry lot, for the most part. They've managed to pick out the worst elements of Western culture, and missed the rest. Here are some of my observations :
Everyone wore jeans. Boys, Girls, everyone. Not a bad thing at all, but there were a lot of people there, and I didn't see a single one not wearing jeans (myself included, but that's a different story).
In a follow up to the jeans thing, the girls wore as tight jeans as they could lay their hands on, probably 1 or 2 sizes smaller than what would be recommended for them. The guys on the other hand, wore as loose as they could. Almost every guy had denim folding up at his feet, dragging on the floor, hiding their shoes.
Some of them were alcoholics. That was openly. I'm pretty sure many more are.
Some of them were smoking. Ditto as above.
I'm not going to conjecture about drugs.
I saw only 3 guys with short hair. On the others I saw all sorts of wacky hairstyles. I won't go so far as to say that the trend is for guys to wear hair long and girls to cut it short, but it's certainly tending that way. Evidently it's 'hip'.
I even heard some attempts at speaking in a Texan drawl. Albeit a very bad accent.
The girls I did see were roaming around with guys about one and a half times their size, and probably the same proportion of age as well (I'm probably exaggerating, but it certainly looked that way).
We're talking about 18 year olds, give or take 3 years. It's obvious the "If you drink and drive, you're a bloody idiot" campaign is not working. Neither are the statuatory warnings on smoking.
I'm not saying rock is bad or unhealthy, far from it. Just because I don't like it doesn't mean it's universally lousy. I'm just observing that many people who have an urge to be with the 'in' crowd force themselves to like it, and all the other bad habits that come with the 'in' crouwd of western culture. Those are the worst elements of western culture. I'm not drawing any inferences, you do that yourself.
How long has it been? Three weeks? I haven't had time to do much of anything in the last three weeks. After a whopping 5 month holiday, I finally started college. 5 months is just too long a layoff. You simply cannot expect anyone to do something useful after having done nothing of the sort for almost half a year. Needless to say, it was painful.
My classroom is on the fifth floor, and there are too many people using the lift for me to even think about it. So I climb. 5 floors. Then back down each time there's a lab class, which could be as many as three times in a day. I'm completely used up at the end of the day. I'm living from weekend to weekend, and sleeping through most of those weekends.
Although technically I'm doing an undergraduate degree in Computer Science, freshman subjects have near nothing to do with my chosen field. Those subjects will start next year, and I have to put up with generic **** till then. I thought I'd left Physics behind *sigh*.
That's it for now, I'm afraid. Will probably start blogging often now, now that I've seen how easy college work is.
It seems I'm jumping on to the YouTube Bandwagon as well. I couldn't help it. I found this one over at Gizmodo, and couldn't help but pass it on. There are some other reviews by the same guy, I'm thinking of putting them here as well, they're just amazing.
Yesterday, I saw the movie "Final Descent" on TV. It's a fairly old movie, 1997ish. However, while watching it I realized something profound. Whenever there's an airplane in a movie, only two things can happen. One, it's a crash scenario, or Two, it's a hijacking scenario. That's it. I have never seen an airplane movie which is not one of these. Airforce One? Hijacking. Airport 75? Crash. So scriptwriters are stretched to their limits, trying to com up with various vague and weird ways to cripple the airplane, and to save it. Take Final Descent, for example. The reason I like this movie is because I've never seen the anyone put a plane through this before. It's a crash, to be sure, but a novel one. They had a mid air collision, and got their elevators stuck in the up, not allowing them to descend, but only climb. So the pilot, who is a very unorthodox flyer who doesn't trust gadgets, comes up with a solution. He asks a mid-air refuel tanker to fill up with water, and dump it into his nose gear compartment, thorugh a hose which goes through the cockpit escape hatch. I told you it was strange. This is so that he can increase the forward weight and dip the nose. He evens asks a nearby military helicopter to shoot holes in his tailfin so that they get unjammed.
Granted, there's not much you can do with a plane, but surely there's more than this? I've heard that a new plane movie is going to release soon : Snakes on a plane. I'm hoping it's a bit different.
In other news, I finally got to see Dead Man's Chest. Given that the rumors that I'd heard were that it sucked, I was very happy with the film. They left no doubt that there'd be a sequel, that's for sure. The special effects were quite good, and the three-way sword fght was hilarious. After reading some speculation articles about the third film, I have some hope. One of the rolling stones was asked to play the part of Jack's father (Some Keith something, I never really got those names straight). The prospect of Will becoming the captain of the Flying Dutchman is also promising. I love that name -- The Flying Dutchman -- It sounds like someone took a catapult and...well never mind.
I'm planning to go on a crazy LFS crusade, as soon as I can get a new computer to play with.
If you live in China, Its unlikely you'll be reading this. Why? Censoship. That word comes cropping up everynow and then. After last month's Indian censorship fiasco, which ended up in government techies finally figuring out how to block only selected sites, the censorship bandwagon has crossed the himalayas into China. Here it's different though, because China, being a socialist country (I desist from using the derogatory), has a couple of different rules.
Human Rights Activists in the US and Europe are calling this the "Great Firewall of China", and asking their respective administrative bodies -- The US government and the European Union -- To do something about it.
But what exactly is happening? Basically, If you're in China, you are being watched. As simple as that. Your searches are watched. The blogs you read are watched. The pictures you see are watched. The VoIP calls you make are watched. The news you read is watched. If the Chinese Government feels that what you are doing is harmful to Chinese interests (read their interests,) you will not see it. Blogs will not appear. Search results will not appear. If you're making a call with Skype and some words are offensive, they are edited. Don't ask me how.
The gripe for many is that some private US corporations are helping the Chinese Government by giving this information (search results, etc.), which is being stored on servers in China. Human Rights groups feel that the right to freedom of speech over the internet is being denied. Last moth, the US Congress was asked to pass a law to punish those corporations aiding censorship. I don't think it went anywhere.
Among the companies participating, are Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, or so they say. Nobody has confirmed anything.
Where did I read about this? Yahoo News. Strange, isn't it?
Everyone seems to be posting about football. Understandable, but not really that interesting. That is, until I found this beauty. It's a mod for UT2K4, and utilizes the bombing-run theme, but is more than that. I just finished playing it, and had tonnes of fun. Watch this video, and maybe I'll put up some screenshots later on. Be warned though, it's a fairly big download for slow connections.
I was tagged here, by Preetika. I think this means that I have to answer the same questions. I'm amazed I'm actually engaging in this insanity. Ah well, here goes...
Were you named after someone? : I might have been. I wasn't aware of it at the time, so I didn't push the matter.
Do you wish on stars? : If I were on one, I'd wish I was off pretty fast.
When did you last cry? Next Question please.
Do you like your handwriting? : No. My handwriting changes to mimic the best handwriting I've seen. Currently, it's like a friend who's studying law in Calcutta, but I haven't written anything in months, so I wouldn't know.
What is your favorite meat? : The beef of a document.
What is the most embarassing CD on your shelf? : Alice in Wonderland : Interactive Play session.
If you were another person, would you be friends with you? : Yes, but the question is largely academic anyway.
Are you a daredevil? : Most certainly not. I tend to let others take the falls first
How do you release anger? : I don't. I read books, or sleep.
Where is your second home? : It changes from time to time.
Do you trust others easily? : I trust everyone. I don't trust the devil inside them.
What was your favorite toy as a child? : My computer. Still is.
What class in school/college do you think is totally useless? : Morality education (Yes, we agree PK.) Anyone's morals are going to get eroded, so why bother?
Do you use sarcasm a lot? : You don't say?
Have you been in a mosh pit? : A what?
What do you look for in a guy/girl? : A glimmer of intelligence.
Would you bungee jump? : Before breakfast, yes.
Do you untie your shoes before taking them off? : Yes.
What's your favorite ice cream? : Vanilla, with chocolate topping. Chocolate anything, actually, as long as there's vanilla underneath.
What are your favorite colors? : White.
What are your least favorite things? : Barefaced lies, and things that are unnecessary.
How many people do you have a crush on right now? : For me to know and for you to wonder.
Who do you miss the most right now? : My conscience, and my sense of self. I think I lost them along the way.
What are you listening to now? : The Seasons, by Vivaldi.
If you were a crayon, what color would you be? : Why crayon? Why not stretch the absurdity further? Like what color shirt? or what brand of rifle?
What is the weather like right now? : Unusually cool. Just how I like it.
Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? : A friend who went away.
The first thing you notice about the opposite sex : Next question please.
Do you like the person who sent you this? : Perhaps.
How are you today? : I'll tell you tomorrow.
Favorite non-alcoholic drink? : Hot chocolate.
Favorite alcoholic drink? : You wouldn't believe me, even if I told you.
Natural hair color? : Black
Natural eye color? : Black
Wear contacts? : Nope, I'm 20/20
Siblings? : When convenient.
Favorite month? : Whichever month winter happens to fall in.
Favorite food? : French bread.
Favorite day of the year? : Winter solstice.
Have you been to shy to ask someone out? : No, not really.
Scary movies or happy endings? : Definitely happy endings.
Summer or Winter? : I think that's obvious, by now.
Do you want your friends to write back? : I don't mind one way or the other.
Who is most likely to respond? : No idea.
What magazine/book are you reading right now? : I'm reading about 20. Do you really want me to list them all?
What's on your mousepad? : My mouse.
What did you watch on TV last night? : Numb3rs.
Favorite smell? : Smells coming out of a bakery.
Have you ever regretted breaking up with someone? : Of course.
Most tiresome thing you've ever experienced/done? : Gotten into college.
I think the procedure is that I tag someone and ask them answer the above questions themselves. I'll tag Elfenom, for starters, followed by GaaraZanta, and Longing2Belong, If they ever come by.
Japan was asked not to greet Britain's first female prime minister with a security escort of 20 "karate ladies", newly-released government papers show.
The man who landed what was dubbed "the best job in the world", taking care of a tropical Australian island has received a nasty jellyfish sting in his last week in the role.
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November 2009January 2010
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