New Blog, New Content, Same Old Me

Hey! I'm glad you found this blog, but I've stopped updating this blog for quite some time. (Oh wait, you already knew that, right?). So head over to my new blog: Design Notes by Rasagy Sharma - where I'll be sharing my thoughts on Design, experiments with programming and lots of sketchnotes!

Since you've been following this blog, I would really appreciate some feedback on the new blog! So feel free to comment/Tweet to @rasagy!

PS: If you're reading this via a Feed Reader, here's the link to the new blog's feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/RSDNotes.

Have a great holiday! :)

Internet in BITS Pilani Goa Campus? What's that?

Long time eh? Well it’s been a hectic month already… Apart from the tests that just got over, I finally got the SPICMACAY chapter started in my campus & organized the inaugural performance by Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (Spent some time with him too… He’s amazing! _/\_) and then had Quark’09 – Technical festival of BITS Pilani Goa Campus. (Yeah that’s my college :|)

Anyway reason why I’ve been away isn’t either of the above. It’s because BLOGSPOT had been banned in my campus for apparently no reason. Our network admins are known for blocking random keywords (Design, Firefox, Game, Girl, Manchester, Analysis….) , but banning blogspot was just too much. After trying for some 10 days, I finally got a few of these unblocked. So now we can read blogs (Go read about the changes to Gmail Contacts!), surf Designer sites (Saw the Photoblogs@Smashing?), go to the FireFox homepage, and look for websites with Analysis in it.

Sounds too good to be true eh?

Here’s what the net admins did now: They’ve set a limit to the maximum size of the webpage you can load. Great!! So the Wikipedia entry on "BITS Pilani", greets me by the message: “The request or reply is too large.” Ditto with the official BITS Pilani Goa Campus website, or the BITSAA website (That's maybe the only reason why our Campus can survive - The BITS Pilani Alumni). Oh & don’t even dream of opening something like DesignShard (This time, it's not because it has ‘Desi’ in it :X)

That’s not it. Pages now load without half the images (Like AlexBuga's Site or Tutorial9). Formatting of some sites is completely screwed (Smashing Mag & Our very own Waves site for example). And Sourceforge.net, Orkut, Facebook, Picasaweb, Newsgator, Youtube, Metacafe & Game Development websites (XNA related) are a few of those hundred other websites that are still blocked.

Sad part is, people in the campus don’t really care about this. I’m tired of getting things changed for those who just sit and play CS/Dota in their rooms and abuse Net admins but can’t go upto the authorities to complain. What's the point? I guess I’ll just go & sit in CSD and surf net unrestricted instead of going around getting keywords unbanned. :-/

PS: My mood changed from “I hate this campus” to “Yey my blog’s unbanned” and back to “Great. So now half of Wikipedia is banned. I still hate this campus” in a span of an hour.

PPS: For those who care, Webpage size of Google is 11606 bytes; My blog is 342357 bytes; BITSAA Website is 365549 bytes; BITS Website is 595399 bytes. Check it out yourself!

PPPS: Now that I can post, I have a few sketches & (Yet another) BIG Gmail Tips compilation (New ones!) coming up very soon, so do subscribe to my blog if you haven’t. :D

Photo: Life keeps getting better!

After a hectic week (and a pleasant weekend), I sat down thinking about the upcoming week. The things to be done, the deadlines to be met...

This weekend was amazing. I spent a day at Palolem beach with my friends and on Sunday I watched the BITSal (Futsal Championship in BITS Pilani, Goa Campus) Semi & Finals (My friend(s) Anuj & JD's Team won! Yoyo!)

One of the thoughts that hasn't left my mind has been of the way something more & more interesting keeps happening. Be it a Kala workshop (Remember the sketches I made for Origami & Caricature Workshops?) or a visit to a beach (Goa \m/). There's so much to this life that you can't just say that you've had enough.

Anyway, here are two pics that I clicked on my way to the Palolem beach:

Don't Stop!

I don't know why, but I really liked this pic. The cycle-wala was driving slowly, in a care free manner. I just got a moment to click him, as we sped past him. He just moved to the side and continued driving slowly...

It's a long way to go...

I've always loved the view you get while you travel in Goa. Unlike Delhi, the roads here are empty (and greener!). I feel like keeping this as my wallpaper :)

Anyway next week is going to be fun... There's Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia's performance and then 3 days of QUARK'09 - Technical fest of BITS Pilani, Goa Campus.

As I said, life keeps getting better!

PS: Expect more pics (Remember 'India Shining?') from now on! Don't forget to subscribe to get instant updates!

Sketch: Goodbye seniors!

Another sem passed, and what followed was something I always hate doing - Saying Good bye. Half of the 4th year batch, said good bye to the campus, and will be now heading for PS (PS=Practise School, ie. Internship).

This batch has been the most talented one till now, responsible for starting nearly every big club/deptt (and making other things BIG!) I got a chance to work with some of the best people I've ever met, and they'll always continue to inspire me.

Anyway switching from the "senti" mood, here's a sketch of the two seniors I'll miss the most, Vandith Bhaiya & Manasa Di. (I had to settle for a digital version after ruining a pen sketch :X) Both were members of the Waves Organizing Committee, and have taught me much more than just organizing a fest.

A few other seniors who are leaving are Piyush (Waves), Abhinav Lakhotia (Waves), Upneet (Drama), Parsani aka Chief (Spons) and Aditya Rao (Spons).

A formal Farewell was given last year to the whole batch (And I wrote about a few of them in my Farewell post), and now they'll be off to different parts of India (And abroad) for their PS.

Best of luck to all of you! Will miss you!

Looking Ahead - Help me out!!

Finally, I've crossed 10,000 blog hits! So thanks a lot to each and everyone who has been visiting my blog!

Started in April'08, this blog was a playground for me to revise (& improve) my Web designing skills. But seems like that took a back seat, and the Digit Article has motivated me to start writing more tech-articles. Hence the few Product reviews & GMail Tips. I'm happy I haven't stopped sketching though, something I still enjoy doing.

You might be wondering why I'm so much into Blogging, so what's better than quoting straight from ProBlogger!

"The experience of starting a blog and watching yourself progress is something money cannot buy... So never forget, that the journey of becoming a blogger is more important than the end product!"

Have a glance at Justin Wright's (full-time blogger and internet marketer) full post on the 5 Valuable Lessons You Can Learn From Blogging! 

Anyway now that I'm less busy, I'm planning to work on my blog. And here's where your role comes!

Help me out! Tell me what you've liked/hated about this blog, things you never looked at (Like the Technorati link on the left side :P). Posts that you've not cared to read, or posts that you've checked again & again...

I already plan to implement some changes, like:

• Improving Feeds, using Feedburner (For those lazy guys who don't won't open the blog regularly!)


• Getting a more personalized theme (The green curved boxes don't really match with the content, right?)


• A Navbar, easier way to navigate through the blog (So that you don't go: 'Umm now what?')

What else? Any sort of criticism is most welcome! Whether it's your first visit to this blog, or the 100th visit, I would love to hear your views/suggestions.

Go ahead! Shoot!

;)

Sketch: Thank you Adil Sir!

From what I've learnt this sem, Designing is an art. You can't teach anyone Designing, you can only inspire one to learn it. And this sketch is for someone who knew how to do that best!

Adil Mistry, BITS Pilani Alumni (Graduated in 1979), teaches Multimedia at Central TAFE, eCentral Campus, East Perth, Australia. That's all I knew about him when he came to BITS Pilani, Goa Campus to do his sabbatical by taking up the Creative Multimedia elective. Though I was very keen to take the course (As I've always been weak at the Designing part), I wasn't enrolled (As I posted before, stupid Campus rules - Only for 3rd/4th yearites :|). But after attending the first class, the whole I'm-not-enrolled-so-shouldn't-attend syndrome vanished. * Poof *

From learning basics of designing, to watching animation (& scary) movies, to trying cool effects in Adobe Premiere, I had fun in every class :D

Anyway, after a short farewell dinner (a day before), Adil Sir left today. So I decided to give him a small sketch just to thank him for inspiring us all! :)

Who knows, I might end up being a Designer! (Would love too :D) I'll make sure I remember whom to credit my success then!

We'll miss you Sir!

PS: Now that I look at it, I feel I should not hate a ruler so much! :P

PPS: Check out my other sketches here!

BITS Updates: "Start" of Hyd Campus and LAN & Internet in Goa Campus

It's 4 in the morning and I'm finally free to write a post. It's been long since I posted, and I had to catch up with all that I missed in the last 3 weeks. Why didn't I post earlier? Being busy with club/deptt. work can be one reason, but the major reason is what has been happening in our lovely campus. Read on to know more. :|

For the record, I'm studying in BITS Goa. Oh I meant BITS Pilani Goa Campus. How can we forget the "BITS Pilani" Tag that we share! The brand name, the alumni support, what not. But seems like the tag isn't helping much (Not even in the placements). Here's what's new in the other "BITS Pilani" Campuses:

BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus:

First the Birla Group comes up with a BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus. Then they let students apply for it and ask them to come on 8th Aug for Registration. And on that day they send them back saying the campus isn't ready, so you are requested to come 2 weeks later. WHAT? I mean there were people from all over the country and you just ask them to leave without any prior notice? Never thought BITS would act so silly. Maybe the campus isn't ready (I heard rain should be blamed for that), but still this isn't the best way to start a new campus!

BITS Pilani Goa Campus:

Things here aren't any better. There still are power cuts (less frequent, and actually enjoyable during lecture hours), and it's raining 24x7. But we don't really care about that. What we care about is LAN & Internet. That's the most essential thing for BITSians. And the admins are taking it away from us!

It all started with the admins blocking Orkut in our campus last sem. Then they started randomly blocking keywords in the url, like design, picasa etc. Infact I had to rename my sketches on the blog (For ex: Sketch of Girl Crying). All this done to try and provide "better" internet speed.

Our director changed this sem, and he came up with an even more innovative way of improving speed: By dividing the Internet timings in slots of 2 hours each for the A & C wing. So now my hostel has net from 5-7PM, 9-11PM and then 1AM-8AM. And even in this "slot", many sites have been banned (Proxy sites are the first ones to be banned). Infact, my Sketch Slideshow doesn't work coz Picasa is banned. Great.

And now there are rumors that they might shutdown LAN during class hours. Oh come on, there are days when I have only 3 hours of lectures. What will I do in the rest 6 hours? What's wrong if someone plays CS or chats with friends in the other hostel during this free time??

In his speech on the Independence Day, the Director said that "Cows must be tied together to make sure they don't get lost. It helps both the cows & the shepherd." But we aren't cows. We are "adults" who have the Right to Vote, but not the common sense to realize how much time we should spend on the Internet. Yeah rite.

Already things like "Students with cgpa < 7 won't get electives" & "2007 batch won't get Creative Multimedia course. It's the policy" have been pissing us off right from day one. And the network admins aren't helping either.

PS: YES I'm pissed. Who wouldn't when he has to spend 2 ******* hours waiting for the internet "slot"?

 

Does your college also block websites/LAN? Or are you another BITSian who has been facing the same problems? What do you think about Restrictions on LAN & Internet? What should be done to improve the situation? Do leave a comment!

Sorry!

Been a long time since I wanted to write this poem. This one's for you buddy :)

Sorry

I stood there, watching,
Him fall on the ground,
It all happened in a flash,
Shocking everyone around.

I saw blood ooze out,
His head was now red,
I stood there, silently,
Screaming, inside my head.

He was yelling in pain,
& blaming me constantly,
As he silently stood up,
And walked away, calmly.

He was trying to hit me back,
And kept shouting all this while,
As I walked with him, watching,
Him walk quietly with a smile.

The doctor took him inside,
I could hear him scream,
As I sat in the silent lobby,
Still hoping it was a dream.

He came out, bandaged,
I could see pain in his eyes,
He smiled and glanced at me,
I looked back with surprise.

Till now, I had thought,
He blamed me for this all,
He smiled, said “It’s cool!
After all it’s Football!”

How could he be so calm?
How did he stay this way?
“Still, I’m really sorry”,
Is all that I could say.

PS: Finee!! NO MORE PS!! Be a beeetch! :P

Bhootnath

Before I start off, one word: Don't think this is some "Movie Review" or something. I'm not writing about the movie, but instead about one important thing that the movie talked about. But I delayed the post hoping most of you will see it before you read this!

Well the movie is about Banku, a naughty kid, whose family shifts into the "Nath Villa". There he meets the ghost of Kailash Nath, the owner of that villa. The story is about how they change each others' lives.

The reason why Kailash Nath still was a ghost was his attachment with the house. The house where his wife died waiting for their son to come back from US. And the fact that he never forgave his son for that.

Another movie about the growing number of Indians going abroad for studies. And then staying there. Leaving behind, their parents in India.

Be it Baghban, Bhootnath, Swades or other similar Bollywood movies, they all focus on the life of those parents, who live alone in their house, with/without any financial support. But it isn't the financial support that they need. It's the emotional support, the desire to see their son/daughter's face every morning they wake up, to watch their children become adults in front of their eyes. Thats what they wish for, till the time they can wish...

So you may ask," Mr. Idealist, do you think we should give up exciting opportunities abroad just to stay with our parents? If they didn't mind us staying in hostels till our graduation, why would do they mind us staying abroad? Ofcourse we can meet them during holidays!". Well I'm not against going abroad to study. Infact I feel we all should go abroad atleast for a short internship, as it gives you a completely different type of exposure. All I am trying to say is not to settle there. Not to cut yourself from your own roots. Thats it.

In this materialistic world we all are becoming more & more self-centered, hardly caring about others. Be it parking cars in the middle of the road, or smoking in a public place, throwing wrappers/plastic on the road, everyday we come across such examples. Similarly steps like staying abroad actually crush the parents' dream to live their old age together with the kids, and leave the world happily in their arms...

In a short story "What's your dream?", Ruskin Bond gave these lines which I'll never forget:

"Live long, my friend, be wise & strong,
But do not take from any man his song"

Just don't forget that every step you take will not only effect your own life, but also of others around you. So the next time you do something, do think about others!

PS: Check out a post on similar lines on Harsha Konduri Bhaiya's Blog!

PPS: See the other side of the story on Pr0crastinat0r's Blog!

THE IIT-JEE '08...

Yes this is about the so called "Toughest paper for Engg in India" - "Indian Institute of Technology('s) -Joint Entrance Examination". Now that they have set a restriction of giving the exam only twice (one just after XII & one one year after XII), I thought, well why waste the last chance. Before you start screaming, "Ohh you gave JEE!!! You are so brilliant etc.. etc...", well I didn't study for it. Yes. I didn't prepare for the exam for which others prepare for 2+ years. So no questions about how it went.
Still unlike the last time, this was memorable for various reasons. Like:

-> The Date: Apart from being the "13th", it was the first weekend we had after our Test Series-II (Poor guys who were actually preparing for it). Also on the same day, there was a ManU vs Arsenal match (EPL) in which ManU thrashed Arsenal 2-1 (obviously)!

-> The Venue: The center was V.M. Salgaocar College of Law, Miramar. The center was nearly as big as our CH1 hostel, with a canteen where you had to place an order in the morning if you wanted Fried Rice during the JEE break (thats all they served). The New Library was on the ground floor, as oppossed to the Old Library on the Top (3rd) Floor (More on this later). But the best thing was: It was next to the Miramar beach. Can you belive it? JEE center next to beach. Most of my friends went to the beach before coming to the center! :D

-> The Hype: JEE has always been hyped. And you can see that by the expression on any applicant's face (for a better idea look at his/her parents'). By 8:30 AM, the center was filled with nervous students cross checking their Admit Cards to see the seating plan, or doing the last minute revision, or listening to even more tensed parents telling them how to stay calm during the test. And the sight of students, all laughing as they entered the center, with "sand on their shoes" didn't make them feel any better.

-> The first 15 minutes: The seat allotted to me was in the New Library(Ground Floor). Or so the board said. You enter and are forced to go upstairs. "भईया New Libraray तो नीचे...". "सब ऊपर है बेटा... जल्दी चलो!". Fine. First Floor. Ask for directions for New Library and you get two answers: On your left, Top floor. " On you left" turns out to be the conference hall. " Top floor" turns out to be 'Old' Library. Well atleast it was a Library. There someone tells me New Library is "नीचे". Humm.. Now this is bugging.
We (ie me & a group of "1st time JEE givers") wander here and there only to find that the way to New Library is through the Conference Hall. And its "New" because it has those typical Sify Cyber Cafe like cubicles. Without computers ofcourse.

-> The Paper: I never liked the new pattern of the paper which replaced the old one. I mean it makes the paper "ordinary" - like any other engg. exam. All you need is a bit of speed, luck & lots of practise. No need to be clear with your basics or have the ability to think out of the box. That means IIT-JEE is no longer "THE IIT-JEE". And this time, there was even partial marking for the "Match the following" questions. Which ultimately means more marks for guessing (No negative marking in this type).
No comments on whether the paper was easy or tough - It only depends on how much you prepared.

-> The break: The 2 hour break is the most bugging part of JEE. Atleast for the serious applicants. Anyway me & my friends decide to go to the main market and have lunch. After a 5-minute bus ride and a short debate on "Isn't पनीर Butter मसाला better than मलाई कोफ्ता?", we order food. Good food. And we are done by 1:30! All plans of reaching 20 minutes late and then happily giving the rest of the paper shattered. Never mind.

-> The sounds: It was in the second half that I actually got bored of the paper. After sleeping for some 20 minutes, I was writing the pros & cons of giving JEE without studying. Well watching others all tensed while you go happily for the test was a big plus. So was the thoughts of finally having Domino's Pizza :). One of the biggest negative was sitting for three hours listening to the guy next to you tap his pencil on the table desperatly trying to play some tune. And failing badly. And the invigilator talking with some random guy for 15 minutes about "studies, tension & students" isn't fun either. So I instead concentrated my exhausted mind on deciphering which song was being played while a nearby car parked (Remember the "tee-tee-taa--tee-tee-taa--ti-ti-ta-ta-taaa..." tune every time the car reverses?). And I also learnt how to differentiate between a horn of a truck, bus, car & a bike. Not to forget the random chirping of birds and the sizzling sound of grass burning (The smell chokes)

-> Post JEE: Its fun to watch others write the paper seriously while to relax in your seat looking outside the window. What's even better is people asking, "How was IT?" and answering back "Amazing! Awesome! Phod diya! What simple paper re!". The expression on everyone's face is worth all 6 hours of time waste.
Anyway party time now. We decided to walk to the Domino's Pizza. Not a very good decision. The walk was very long and tiring, with the sun blazing above. And then 2 smart girls decided to go into the Reliance Web World. Not to ask about Recharge coupons. Not for a new broadband connection. To sit in the AC for a while. Yeah thats how we all are!
After a long walk and lots of misdirection, we finally reached Domino's. Filled our empty tummies with pizza (and saw 30 min of Liverpool vs Blackburn Match.. Final Score was 3-1). We return half asleep, still all proudly entering campus as if we had fought a tough war or something...

So well, JEE was fun (more fun was telling people about it and watching the amazed expression on their faces.. "You gave JEE?? Wow... Khool!!!") :D

Too long a post for a start. I guess I should learn how to summarize my thoughts. Or make a script for expanding titles. But how do you edit the HTML code of your post?? Been a long time away from Blogger it seems!
Enjoy!

PS: Finally learnt how to Edit Html. The button wasn't there when I opened it in Firefox :(