17 Dec 2007

Googbot- worm

Original issue date: 24th September 2007

It has been observed that a mass-mailing worm named Googbot is circulating in the wild. It propagates by exploiting software vulnerabilities. The worm is exploiting Trend Micro ServerProtect multiple stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability described in CIVN-2007-80 and Windows LSA (Local Security Authority) Service Stack-Based Buffer Overflow vulnerability described in CVE-2003-0533 . Further it opens a backdoor on the infected system on TCP port 7001 to connect to domain io.phatnet.biz and listen for malicious commands from the remote attacker.

The worm has its own SMTP engine to send mass e-mails. It harvests the e-mail addresses from the infected system and sends malicious e-mails to the collected addresses. The e-mail body contains a malicious link which entice the users to click upon using social engineering technique.

Aliases : WORM_AGENT.AAWD [Trend], W32 Duce.a@mm [McAfee], Backdoor.W32.GoogBot.A [Kaspersky]

The e-mail contains the following :

Subject : (any of the following)

  • Someone has sent you a Private Message!
  • You have just recieved a NEW message!
  • You have (1) NEW messages!

Body : (any of the following)

  • You have just recieved a new Google Message!
  • You can view your message here: http://www.google.com/gmsgid=4289472
  • Note: If you do not already have Google Message Viewer installed, you will be prompted to install it.


Upon execution, the worm :

  • Copies itself to the following location:
    %System%\sysboot32.exe
  • Creates the following registry entry to ensure its execution
    at every system startup
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
    CurrentVersion\Run\"System Boot Loader" = "%System%\sysboot32.exe"
  • Modifies the hosts file for effectively disabling the access to security related websites by adding the following lines like:
    • 127.0.0.1 securityresponse.symantec.com
    • 127.0.0.1 symantec.com
    • 127.0.0.1 www.sophos.com
    • 127.0.0.1 sophos.com
    • 127.0.0.1 www.mcafee.com
    • 127.0.0.1 mcafee.com
    • 127.0.0.1 liveupdate.symanteclive
      update.com
  • Obtains e-mail addresses from the Windows Address Book and also searches for email addresses in files which have the following extensions:
    wab, .adb, .tbb, .dbx, .asp, .php, .sht,.htm,.txt
  • Opens a backdoor on the infected system on TCP port 7001 to connect to domain io.phatnet.biz

In view of rapid propagation of the Googbot worm, users are advised to implement the following countermeasures:

  • Install and maintain a updated anti-virus software at gateway and desktop level.
  • Keep up-to-date on patches and fixes on the operating system and above mentioned vulnerabilities.
  • Monitor outgoing traffic to specified TCP port of the IRC command and control (C&C) server mentioned above.
  • Enable advanced TCP/IP filtering on systems.
  • Do not follow links embedded in unsolicited emails.

References:

http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/security_response/writeup
.jsp?docid=2007-091707-2115-99&tabid=1

Disclaimer:

The information provided herein is on "as is" basis, without warranty of any kind.


Trojan Exploiting PDF Vulnerability

Original issue date:30 October 2007

It has been observed that a Malware Trojan named Pidief is circulating widely exploiting Remote code Execution vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat PDF File described in CIVN-2007-128 .

The Trojan comes as a PDF attachment in spammed e-mails with subject lines enticing innocent users into opening the malicious file and executing the malware on their systems.

Aliases : : EXPL_PIDIEF.B [FrSirt], Trojan.Pidief.A [Symantec], EXPL_PIDIEF.B [Trend Micro], Exploit.Win32.AdobeReader.b [Kaspersky]

The e-mail contains the following :

Subject : (any of the following)

  • Your credit report
  • Your credit points
  • Your balance report
  • Personal Financial Statement
  • Personal Credit Points

Attachments: (any of the following)

  • report.pdf
  • debt.2007.pdf
  • overdraft.2007.10.26.pdf


Upon execution, the Trojan :

  • disables Windows firewall by issuing the following command:
    netsh firewall set opmode mode=DISABLE
  • downloads malicious files from different location.
  • the above said downloaded threat is saved to the following locations
    %CurrentFolder%\

In view of rapid propagation of the PDF Malware, users are advised to implement the following countermeasures:

  • Disable the "mailto:" option in Acrobat, Acrobat 3D 8 and Adobe Reader in the Windows registry
  • Apply appropriate patches on vulnerable Adobe Systems as mentioned in Cert-In Vulnerability Note CIVN-2007-128.
  • Delete emails with the above mentioned Subject lines and attachments.
  • Avoid opening of PDF files through the web browser. Instead save the file to disk before opening.
  • Install and maintain a updated anti-virus software at gateway and desktop level.
  • Keep up-to-date on patches and fixes on the operating system and above mentioned vulnerabilities.

References

http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/writeup.jsp
?docid=2007-102310-3513-99&tabid=1

http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k
=139103

http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00001303.html

Disclaimer :

The information provided herein is on "as is" basis, without warranty of any kind.

Googbot- worm

Original issue date: 24th September 2007

It has been observed that a mass-mailing worm named Googbot is circulating in the wild. It propagates by exploiting software vulnerabilities. The worm is exploiting Trend Micro ServerProtect multiple stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability described in CIVN-2007-80 and Windows LSA (Local Security Authority) Service Stack-Based Buffer Overflow vulnerability described in CVE-2003-0533 . Further it opens a backdoor on the infected system on TCP port 7001 to connect to domain io.phatnet.biz and listen for malicious commands from the remote attacker.

The worm has its own SMTP engine to send mass e-mails. It harvests the e-mail addresses from the infected system and sends malicious e-mails to the collected addresses. The e-mail body contains a malicious link which entice the users to click upon using social engineering technique.

Aliases : WORM_AGENT.AAWD [Trend], W32 Duce.a@mm [McAfee], Backdoor.W32.GoogBot.A [Kaspersky]

The e-mail contains the following :

Subject : (any of the following)

  • Someone has sent you a Private Message!
  • You have just recieved a NEW message!
  • You have (1) NEW messages!

Body : (any of the following)

  • You have just recieved a new Google Message!
  • You can view your message here: http://www.google.com/gmsgid=4289472
  • Note: If you do not already have Google Message Viewer installed, you will be prompted to install it.


Upon execution, the worm :

  • Copies itself to the following location:
    %System%\sysboot32.exe
  • Creates the following registry entry to ensure its execution
    at every system startup
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
    CurrentVersion\Run\"System Boot Loader" = "%System%\sysboot32.exe"
  • Modifies the hosts file for effectively disabling the access to security related websites by adding the following lines like:
    • 127.0.0.1 securityresponse.symantec.com
    • 127.0.0.1 symantec.com
    • 127.0.0.1 www.sophos.com
    • 127.0.0.1 sophos.com
    • 127.0.0.1 www.mcafee.com
    • 127.0.0.1 mcafee.com
    • 127.0.0.1 liveupdate.symanteclive
      update.com
  • Obtains e-mail addresses from the Windows Address Book and also searches for email addresses in files which have the following extensions:
    wab, .adb, .tbb, .dbx, .asp, .php, .sht,.htm,.txt
  • Opens a backdoor on the infected system on TCP port 7001 to connect to domain io.phatnet.biz

In view of rapid propagation of the Googbot worm, users are advised to implement the following countermeasures:

  • Install and maintain a updated anti-virus software at gateway and desktop level.
  • Keep up-to-date on patches and fixes on the operating system and above mentioned vulnerabilities.
  • Monitor outgoing traffic to specified TCP port of the IRC command and control (C&C) server mentioned above.
  • Enable advanced TCP/IP filtering on systems.
  • Do not follow links embedded in unsolicited emails.

References:

http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/security_response/writeup
.jsp?docid=2007-091707-2115-99&tabid=1

Disclaimer:

The information provided herein is on "as is" basis, without warranty of any kind.


Trojan Exploiting PDF Vulnerability

Original issue date:30 October 2007

It has been observed that a Malware Trojan named Pidief is circulating widely exploiting Remote code Execution vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat PDF File described in CIVN-2007-128 .

The Trojan comes as a PDF attachment in spammed e-mails with subject lines enticing innocent users into opening the malicious file and executing the malware on their systems.

Aliases : : EXPL_PIDIEF.B [FrSirt], Trojan.Pidief.A [Symantec], EXPL_PIDIEF.B [Trend Micro], Exploit.Win32.AdobeReader.b [Kaspersky]

The e-mail contains the following :

Subject : (any of the following)

  • Your credit report
  • Your credit points
  • Your balance report
  • Personal Financial Statement
  • Personal Credit Points

Attachments: (any of the following)

  • report.pdf
  • debt.2007.pdf
  • overdraft.2007.10.26.pdf


Upon execution, the Trojan :

  • disables Windows firewall by issuing the following command:
    netsh firewall set opmode mode=DISABLE
  • downloads malicious files from different location.
  • the above said downloaded threat is saved to the following locations
    %CurrentFolder%\

In view of rapid propagation of the PDF Malware, users are advised to implement the following countermeasures:

  • Disable the "mailto:" option in Acrobat, Acrobat 3D 8 and Adobe Reader in the Windows registry
  • Apply appropriate patches on vulnerable Adobe Systems as mentioned in Cert-In Vulnerability Note CIVN-2007-128.
  • Delete emails with the above mentioned Subject lines and attachments.
  • Avoid opening of PDF files through the web browser. Instead save the file to disk before opening.
  • Install and maintain a updated anti-virus software at gateway and desktop level.
  • Keep up-to-date on patches and fixes on the operating system and above mentioned vulnerabilities.

References

http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/writeup.jsp
?docid=2007-102310-3513-99&tabid=1

http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k
=139103

http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00001303.html

Disclaimer :

The information provided herein is on "as is" basis, without warranty of any kind.

16 Dec 2007

Beware of Santa Worm this christmas

A Santa Claus worm might trick you this Christmas my dear readers . It makes MSN and Yahoo instant-messaging users click on a file that delivers unwanted software to a victim's computer.

The worm is IM.GiftCom.All. The worm attempts to dupe IM users making them think that an acquaintance has sent them a link to a harmless Santa Claus file . Once you click on the file , you will see an image of Santa, but what you don't notice is that a rootkit being installed on their system. A rootkit is a tool designed to hide processes and files from the security software used to lock down control of a computer after an initial hack. The malicious attacker can then distribute messages to the user's IM contacts, using a similar technique to lure the unsuspecting acquaintance to click on the link and the worm keeps spreading .
Not only this , there are other worms on IM networks that spread rapidly. They appear as a message from a buddy with a link that looks innocent, but in fact points to malicious code somewhere on the Internet. Once the user clicks on the link, malicious code is installed and runs on the computer. The worm then spreads itself by sending messages to all names on the victim's contact list.These can be treated as medium level security threats

Click here for Santa worm removal

Courtesy: Subhash

Heroes are created

Heroes are created by people to look upon them for help.

People may fight for their country. But they die for their friends..those who have been with them.



......Flag of our Fathers (movie)

Beware of Santa Worm this christmas

A Santa Claus worm might trick you this Christmas my dear readers . It makes MSN and Yahoo instant-messaging users click on a file that delivers unwanted software to a victim's computer.

The worm is IM.GiftCom.All. The worm attempts to dupe IM users making them think that an acquaintance has sent them a link to a harmless Santa Claus file . Once you click on the file , you will see an image of Santa, but what you don't notice is that a rootkit being installed on their system. A rootkit is a tool designed to hide processes and files from the security software used to lock down control of a computer after an initial hack. The malicious attacker can then distribute messages to the user's IM contacts, using a similar technique to lure the unsuspecting acquaintance to click on the link and the worm keeps spreading .
Not only this , there are other worms on IM networks that spread rapidly. They appear as a message from a buddy with a link that looks innocent, but in fact points to malicious code somewhere on the Internet. Once the user clicks on the link, malicious code is installed and runs on the computer. The worm then spreads itself by sending messages to all names on the victim's contact list.These can be treated as medium level security threats

Click here for Santa worm removal

Courtesy: Subhash

Truths of life

If i ask you if you know anything about art, you may tell me about Michelangelo- his life,his work. But you can never tell me what it smells like in the sixteenth chapel. You never actually stood there and looked up at the beautiful ceiling.

If i ask you about women, you may gimme a list of your personal favorites. You may have been laid a few times,but you can't tell me what it feels like to wake up next to a woman if you are truly happy.

If i ask you about war,you probably would throw Shakespeare at me telling whats the big difference.But you have never been in one.You never held your best friend in your lap, watch him gasp his last breadth looking to you for help.

If i ask you about love, you may probably quote me a sonnet; but have never looked into a woman who have been totally lovable.Being at the same level of your eyes; feeling like God put an angel to earth just for you,rescue you from the depths of hell. And you wish to be like her angel-to have the love for her and be there forever...for anything..through anything.

You dont know a real loss because its only caused when you have lost something you have loved more than yourself. Now i don't dare to live up to anybody that much

Microsoft Windows XP Service pack 3 - fake or truth?

I saw an image file of Windows XP Service pack 3 in the hostel LAN and i could not believe it until i googled it to find conflicting statements in different websites. According to Microsoft watch
service pack 3 would not be released until end of 2007 and it has been confirmed from the Microsoft site too. But according to some sites like PC Magazine it has been released and used worldwide by legitimate users and uploaded snapshots too. I am rather confused if it is some cheap trick of some hackers?? So watch out until it has been confirmed in a few days time. Ill wait and watch rather and experimenting on it and making a loss of the current system files.

Microsoft Windows XP Service pack 3 - fake or truth?

I saw an image file of Windows XP Service pack 3 in the hostel LAN and i could not believe it until i googled it to find conflicting statements in different websites. According to Microsoft watch
service pack 3 would not be released until end of 2007 and it has been confirmed from the Microsoft site too. But according to some sites like PC Magazine it has been released and used worldwide by legitimate users and uploaded snapshots too. I am rather confused if it is some cheap trick of some hackers?? So watch out until it has been confirmed in a few days time. Ill wait and watch rather and experimenting on it and making a loss of the current system files.

15 Dec 2007

Food travelogue - Kasturi resorts,Pune

Its not famous for anything besides being a resort and a marriage hall. Well but how long could it hide the real taste of food that it savours! We have been going there almost everyday and we still dont find it bore to go there again and again. The service is very nice there and a waiter always caters your request. they wont let you lift a thing. The ambiance is nice though the public that comes there is a bit of low profile.Maybe thats why the prices are also ok.

We tried our first chicken tikka here and we liked it so much. It had a really different taste from other chicken we had tasted so far and yet so divine. it was lovely, in fact each of the non veg dishes are too good - worth mentioning. There is also no problem of dropping in anytime unlike Saarja which closes at 4pm and opens at 7pm again! well hats off to you guys for the overall good performance you have.

Food travelogue - Saarja,Pune

Much was heard about this place of Lata Mangeskar but hardly got a chance to go until we finally tracked it down. Its a small nice restaurant cum bar.The entrance bears an elegant look with a wonderful ambiance. The ceiling were so nice, it really seemed like a mahal as someone had said. It was famous for non-veg so we tried out. It was amazingly tasty indeed. In many restaurants if you order two dishes you generally find that the gravy taste almost the same but ...sorry you will find nothing like that here. Each has got a different taste of its own and quite relishing.

Price is a bit higher than normal restaurant rates here. But its worth it. The service is also nice here and you wont be bored eating if you are a good food lover. Do take out some time and visit this place and relish the most tasty dishes of chicken & mutton.

11 Dec 2007

The Christmas Spirit


As a child, i used to wonder what i would plan for the coming Christmas and New year. No dont take me wrong..i am an Indian..it doesn't matter to me if i am a hindu or christian. But everyone can sense the spirit in the air in Christmas time. In Manipur, few people decorate Christmas trees and pack gifts as done in western world.Its not about westernizing our culture but the very thought of decorating christmas tress make me jolt in excitement. Christmas time was like a fairy tale to me..like every child would dream of Santa coming down the chimney and give me gifts and toys. I used to think that Santa does not come to Manipur or India at all.
When i grew up,realizing the fact was quite hard for me. When you come to realize something that never happened it would be a disaster. But the christmas spirit still lies in everyones heart,deep down the core...instilled in us.

And deep down my heart, i sense in me the wandering aroma of hangam thongba (cooked mustard leaves) , aloo iromba (preparation of potato with chillies), khongdrum chamfoot (bolied sweet vegetable)...... (manipuri winter dishes)
I can see paona bazar lined up with glitters, cards, chocolates, gifts..
girls roaming in groups.... guys loitering on their CBZs and Pulsars...
the restaurants are full...the traffic police are busy....
there is bug rush in bazar....old imas and aboks selling clothes and accessories...
the sunday market is open....the chilling winter freezes peoples thoughts....
even the newspapers get drenched in the morning fog...
someone ,somewhere smiles and wishpers "winter is here..and a whole new year lie ahead of me"

The winter season however can be harsh to the poor and needy people around you. So it would be a nice idea to give your old clothes and food leftovers to them. That would be the perfect christmas spirit in you. Play Santa for those poor people...its the spirit of giving that one should learn. Merry Christmas to you all

10 Dec 2007

What is fate?

You see what you wanted to see;
You hear what you wanted to hear;
You believe what you wanted to believe;
You do what you wanted to do;

Then why does life not give you what you wanted?
Why does life not happen the way you wanted it to be?
Why does life take away what you wish for?

4 Dec 2007

A Food travelogue - Kareem's, Pune


I am not a "food service specialist" yet i love to travel near and far for good food. I continue my search on good food and today i went to Kareem's in Aundh, Pune. The entry was nice with a small sign of Kareem's written on it. They had managed to run the place in a small ground floor two room restaurant with some 9/10 tables of 4 chairs each. The reception counter was on the side as well as outside for a guard, with toilets outside. The gate is wonderfully crafted on huge wooden doors like old times. It was truly a feeling of Arabians. There was glass window on one side with curtains made of colourful strings and beads, where we sat. It was hot outside so made to on the AC as we looked at the list of foods. Its a little costly than the other restaurants but i was damn sure that i would be getting quality food so tried "ghost chaamp masala". It hardly took 5 minutes to get the food served steamingly hot. It had the most wonderful taste i had ever tried in mutton, there was a slight taste of tomato in it and amazingly tasty. The quantity however was small compared with others,despite the price.

We also ordered "shahi rogan gosh" with zeera rice later on. It was also amazing recipe..though i personally prefer the earlier one. The zeera rice was too good, smelt of pure ghee. The service was too good, theres always one person watching us - what we need and all. I was about to make another serving when the waiter came and served me, i did not had to worry about anything. I was not given the chance to call them and wait for some time like it generally does in other restaurants. Maybe there were few people thats why, but still there were only 9/10 tables and i think the service must be nice even if crowded.

The interiors were designed like a cave, and the ceiling looked like it was hand crafted. There were designed cloth hanging from the ceiling that made me feel a tinge of arabian camps. I also could see the kitchen through a glass window and it was really clean and nice. the cooks had dresses with white topped hats like professionals. It was really fun and an amazing experience at Kareem's. After the lunch, we were served "meetha pan" instead of the normal "soph" and it was really nice. I happen to go to the toilet outside which was also nice. the wash basin was made of a huge brass vessel and the taps were all brass. They had pressure flush, soap etc in the toilet and clean too. In short, its a very hygienic restaurant with style and culture of Arabs.

The outside space was also nicely utilized with a small counter for reception. There were nets above so that dried twigs and leaves wont fall overhead and there was 4/5 wooden seats made of tree trunks outside for waiting. The ambience is amazing..the food is wow..You should try it out once or while. At least me and my fren would prefer eating there instead of Pizza hut.

2 Dec 2007

Blogger's itch

For a blogger, staying online and yet not writing any blogs makes him crazy about everyday things. Sometimes it makes it so hard in life that he needs to shout somewhere or tell someone else. And where can be the best place to do so but the blogs, of course. I, like a dedicated blogger feel the itch in my fingertips when i do not blog for a day or too. Sometimes i do not have time for writing blogs yet i do make it sure that i can find a topic to write on and scrap it down on the Word so that i can post it later when i am online.

Its like being insomniac, you can't sleep without writing something which you feel about in life. It may be rubbish to someone yet meaningful to him. He can understand at what juncture of life he had went through when he read his own blogs much later on. t gives him a better perspective to know more about himself and with less introspection. Contemplation at a critical moment may be hard at times and differs with one's perspective of life. Well, for me ..all i know is that i am fulfilling my heart's desire to write something down for myself. I believe that other bloggers must also be feeling the same way i do and prove me right. Hope so!

Orkuting - an evolving trend

"Orkuting" is the latest trend coming up with today's youth. There was a time when people were crazy about Mobiles and SMSes, gadgets and online messengers. In today's world, people rather prefer to be connected online rather than just getting connected via SMS or online chats. People want to have the real-time feeling rather then being just another person on this planet. Who does not know about Orkut today? Even if he doesn't access internet, he probably have heard about it from friends who already have. Today the fashion is orkuting, or scrapping on the orkut. Orkut is a well known social networking site.

What is a social networking service?
Social network service focuses on the building and verifying of online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others, and which necessitates the use of software.Most social network services are primarily web based and provide a collection of various ways for users to interact, such as chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups, and so on.The main types of social networking services are those which contain directories of some categories (such as former classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages), and recommender systems linked to trust. Popular methods now combine many of these, with Myspace, Bebo and Facebook being the mostly widely used in this field.

Orkut
orkut makes it easy to find people who share your hobbies and interests, look for romantic connections or establish new business contacts. You can also create and join a wide variety of online communities to discuss current events, reconnect with old school mates or even exchange your favorite recipes.Who you interact with is entirely up to you. Before getting to know an orkut member, you can read their profile and even see how they're connected to you through the friends network.To join orkut, simply sign in with your Google Account and you can begin to create your own profile right away.


Countrywise use:


Brazil 53.52%

United States 18.08%

India 15.83%

Latest news:

Indian defence services have decided to put a check on Orkut to avoid data leakage from within the defence services to other parts of the world. This has been deliberately taken with due consideration of the increasing use of social networking services like orkut in India.

Courtesy: Wikipedia

Orkut

1 Dec 2007

Netiquette - posting styles/ guidelines

Styles:
1. Top-posting
2. Bottom-posting
3. Inline-replying
4. Double-qouting

Top-posting:
Writing the message above the original text, when one replies to an email or a post in a newsgroup.

No problems.  6pm it is then.
Jim
At 10.01am Wednesday, Danny wrote:
> Whoa! Hold on. I have job scheduled at 5:30 which mails out
> a report to key tech staff. Can you not push it back an hour?
> Danny
>
> At 9.40am Wednesday, Jim wrote:
> > I'm going to suspend the mail service for approx. thirty
> > minutes tonight, starting at 5pm, to install some updates
> > and important fixes.
> > Jim
This style of posting resembles forwarding messages with new text appended at the top:
Hello A.B. !

Here is the relevant portion of the letter that X.Z.
sent to our group, as requested.

Yours,
N.N.

On Wednesday, X.Y. wrote:
> Hi, team!
>
> Please work on portions 5 and 9 for Friday. The customer says
> the rest isn't critical, as they mention below.
>
> Thanks,
> X.Z.
>
> On Monday, Customer wrote:
> > Dear Sir,
> >
> > We will need to have the new doohicky method implemented, as well
> > as the heffalump output. We really need this by Friday, and if
> > your team needs to shift focus to achieve those two deliverables,
> > we can wait until afterward for the remainder of the work.
> >
> > Thank you,
> > J. Customer
In short,it looks somewhat like this:
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?

Bottom-posting:
The opposite of top-posting. Now the new message is placed below the original text.The reply is placed below the quote to preserve the logical order of the replies and follow the Western reading direction from top to bottom.

This is typically done when only a single portion of the previous message is being replied to; the rest of the quoted material is trimmed.

> At 9.40am Wednesday, Jim wrote:
> > I'm going to suspend the mail service for approx. thirty
> > minutes tonight, starting at 5pm, to install some updates
> > and important fixes.

At 10.01am Wednesday, Danny wrote:
> Whoa! Hold on. I have job scheduled at 5:30 which mails out
> a report to key tech staff. Can you not push it back an hour?No problems. 6pm it is then.

Scrolling down through a post to find a reply is inconvenient, especially for short replies to long messages, and many inexperienced computer users may not know that they need to scroll down to find a reply to their query. When sending an untrimmed bottom posted message, one might indicate inline replies with a notice at the top such as "I have replied below." However, as many modern mail programs are capable of displaying different levels of quotation with different colors (as seen here), this is not so much of an issue any more.


Inline replying:
Inline replies keep related sections of a discussion together within a message. As such it is easier to fork off parallel 'threads' of discussion from a single source message, each perhaps dealing with only one specific point (or subset of points) from the original.
On Thursday, Jim wrote:
> When considering the variation in style between the original
> novel and the movie adaptation, it is clear to see that

[snipped...]

Yes, but almost twenty years separates the book and the film.


> The movie clearly adds a sense of menace to the story which
> is not present in the original book. This is unacceptable

[Darker interpretation pros and cons, trimmed...]

I agree. The darker tone works well, once one understands the two are aimed at different audiences.

Double-qouting:
Another style involves replying in an interleaved manner to selected quotes from the original message, as described above, but then following this with a fullquote of the entire message, as if top-posting. This preserves the thread text in a single message, and also allows seeing what's being replied to in context. However this also results in some portions of the original message being quoted twice, which takes up extra space and might be considered confusing.
> Can you present your report an hour later?
Yes I can. The report will now happen at 3pm, and the summary will be sent no later than 5pm.
Jim


At 10.01am Wednesday, Danny wrote:
> > 2.00pm: Present report
> Jim, I have a meeting at that time. Can you present your report an hour later?
>
> > 4.30pm: Send out summary of feedback
> Also if you do the above, this may need to happen later too.
> Danny
>
>
> At 9.40am Wednesday, Jim wrote:
> > My schedule for today will be:
> > 10.00am: Gather data for report
> > 2.00pm: Present report to team
> > 4.30pm: Send out summary of feedback
> > Jim

Reference: Wikipedia
Courtesy: Ringo for his mail

30 Nov 2007

Have group chat with your friends on Gmail

November 30,2007

Gmail has just launched new features for its chat version inside Gmail . Whats new ??

  • Gmail has added the group chat feature in its chat with Gmail . As shown in the fig , you can invite your other friends to have chat with you ...Similar to conferencing in Yahoo .To start a group chat, click 'Group chat' from the 'Options' menu when chatting.
  • You can now see smiley's in your chat if you and the other person are using chat inside Gmail as shown in the figure . The shortcuts for the smiley's is shown in this page .
For more updates from Gmail , see this page .

Courtesy: Subash (JIIT)

Have group chat with your friends on Gmail

November 30,2007

Gmail has just launched new features for its chat version inside Gmail . Whats new ??

  • Gmail has added the group chat feature in its chat with Gmail . As shown in the fig , you can invite your other friends to have chat with you ...Similar to conferencing in Yahoo .To start a group chat, click 'Group chat' from the 'Options' menu when chatting.
  • You can now see smiley's in your chat if you and the other person are using chat inside Gmail as shown in the figure . The shortcuts for the smiley's is shown in this page .
For more updates from Gmail , see this page .

Courtesy: Subash (JIIT)

Mama calling

I did watch the starry sky among the haze of the frosted window pane and told myself, it definitely was a night for movies. Being a movie freak i was watching movie in series - Hitman and Lucky you. Well i had few offers for online chat which i wasn't in mood for so wanted to watch movies despite the fact that i had L&T SAP Lab early morning. I did not look at the hour at the corner of the laptop nor did i stretch my hands to get the watch and carried on with what i felt was amusing. It was 4:30 A.M. in the morning when my sister caught me online and asked me a series of questions regarding my online activity at that unearthly hour!. I said i was watching movie and soon will retire to bed. Mom called me the next instant and i knew i was done for!

Soon a series of instructions and advices followed to which i was not in the mood for. I agreed to her for i knew it was really late for a person to be awake without any good reason. Well i guess watching movie needs a good reason to be awake at that hour, which i absolutely don't agree to. I was not in the mood to argue and so hung up the fone saying m sleeping and switched off the lights and put the laptop on hibernation. I thought for a while in the twilight of the early wee hours if it really was worth staying awake? When mom called me i felt like she would want me to come back home and support the family. Well maybe not like that exactly but yeah at some point of time, i thought it was it. Then i finally closed my eyes and got myself lost in my dreams of home far far away...where the stars have already left for the dawn.

29 Nov 2007

The "Good Food" drive - a weeks fun ride!

27th November

It was my room mate's birthday and our circle of friends had assembled at my room contributing money for cake. It was just 8 of us and others were not to be invited so we thought we will cut the cake in the room only..then as time flew we and contribution increased we decided that we have a party and the contri money be used for food while Deepak (my roomie) will provide drinks. We brought the drinks and head for "Master Cook" in nearby place (Hinjewadi) and parked our 6 tyre vehicle (3 bikes hehe). Shoot some pictures there and had hell lot of fun there. Service was really bad thought the food was OK. Two full seemed less and we went to buy another one. All was overflowing with the rhythm of drinks and we had a great time. Returned our asses back to our rooms and slept.


28th November

We woke up very late due to the hangover and all i could feel was the head churning along the mortar of time. We were neither feeling hungry nor feeling any sense of doing anything at all. the whole day seem to have been wasted with that feeling. The taste buds were making funny senses and so Saxena and me decided to head for "Blue Nile" in Camp area to which Deepak denied. So we end up at a local, familiar bar cum restaurant "Saundarya" and had chicken handi. It had a horrible taste unlike other days, its chicken is good otherwise. That was the end of the party.

29th November

Saxena and me decided that we will head for KFC in the morning. Our "food journey" has always been interesting one. After giving exams we headed for KFC in camp area and had fun there. We ordered one chicken basket and had our fill to the neck. Then shoot some pics there and went to MG Road for a walk. Went to Planet M for passes for tomorrows "Rock Concert" but in vain. Went to ESquare multiplex and had some fun. We clicked ourselves a group sketch at Esquare.It was really fun. Wanted to watch a movie but the timings were bad so we returned back. On the way we stopped for some coffee at Cafe Cofee Day and had two Cappuccino. It was really a great day.
(Sketch of Saxena and me)


3oth November plan.

Saxena and me headed for Blue Nile in Camp area after the class and had fun with the chicken varieties we had. Then we headed for Koregaon Park and witnessed the Rock Fest, loitered around Adlabs and returned to CCD in Baner. We had no space to fill in our stomach and got tired as well so we returned back to room.

It was indeed a fun ride cum "good food" journey. Catch you next time after exams...where i will take you to more famous restaurants and food joints in Pune. Next time may be George in Camp, Mahesh lunch home in Camp, Bamboo house in JM road, Punjabi rasoi in Koregaon Park or something else. Keep looking for a fun ride with me in Pune ;)

27 Nov 2007

Following the heart

Humans are born innocent and fragile. It's nature that makes us impure with time. I still remember a small girl child selling a special kind of grass used for Durga Puja on the roadside of Satara ( the place where i did my Engineering). Her clothes were tattered and seemed like she needs love and care. innocent she was, sweet was her nature. I was walking along the streets with my friends as we past her. I stopped for a moment to see her as she tried to sell the grass to me. I wished to buy a small bundle of grass just to make her happy or smile. But i thought my friends will laugh at me and i did not buy it. We walked away from her and i kept thinking of her..id she had met any buyers or not. Its been so many years now, yet i remember how she looked at me with such innocence. After all this years, i regret of not buying the grass from her. At least i won't be remembering her today if i did!

Even today,when i see many small children begging on the roads i wish to stop by and talk to them and make them smile. But it would really seem stupid doing so. My heart weeps to see elders begging on the roads, i wish i could make them happy a bit by donating something. But i know that it isn't the solution and maybe i knew that it would make me see as affectionate and emotional bastard. Sometimes i really plunge my hands into the pockets to reach out for some coins and then stop mid way..maybe i wish to see them happy yet not ready to accept the sneers and stares of people!

We as humans have worn so many masks in our lives that we find it hard to sometimes follow our hearts wishes. I do agree that sometimes the heart wants me to do stupid and absolute things. But was it worth not doing my hearts wishes? Will we not be happy doing something we wished really from heart? Where are we going, wheres the world going to?

26 Nov 2007

Exams and enjoyment (continued..)

I remember what i wrote yesterday night before sleep. Well exam wasn't bad, expecting some 30/40. Well i am not a scholar or something like that but i guess the reason lies in how i took the exams! people end up wide awake in name of exams, yeah i also do study when needed.. sometimes i don't sleep at all.But sometimes you know you arent in the mood to do something and you have to do it, that makes the difference. As for me i did what i wanted by having fun instead of studying lol.

Exams and enjoyment !!

Maybe you won't believe me if i say that tomorrow is my Mid-term paper on Entrepreneurship and i spent my time watching movies and having fun. In fact in the evening i got the handout from a friend and went to take xerox. I got the xerox but midway, somewhere i got lost...in fact a friend and me and we sat for some drinks. The first quater ran to second and second to third until we finally gave up saying we have to study also.

Came back to room and finished the other quater that we brought. And i sat down for finishing the rest of the movie that i started. And now i don't think that its a good idea to sit up straight and study for tomorrows exam at 3am in the morning!! I mean thats not sensible enough of me to make such a gesture that people wont approve of!!

Thinking of my odd behavior why i did not study, i stumbled upon my engineering habits which i suppose every engineer knows ! But the real reason is something i really don't know of! maybe i am not in the right mood to study!! Maybe its too hard for me, or maybe the subject is irrelevant. Whatever it may be, the reason is obvious - i don't want to study!! But maybe if it were a technical subject,maybe i would have studied even after the drinks and obviously that would have made me awake the whole night too. Life seems boring nowadays, dunno why! Someone suggest me what to do? A fren of mine has two subjects each everyday, not sparingly Sundays even? "My Gosh!!" i said to her. We have exams tomorrow and we are drinking..thats what i told her.

Well really it seems that my life has been that way. Hard times comes suddenly and yet i prefer to stay with good times always. Good times rock man. Cheers!!

Cyborg and humans..or should i say Koreans?

I watched this new Korean movie i brought from home called " I am Cyborg but thats OK". Its basically a psycho movie that starts in a rehab center with all sorts of mad people. Its a story of a girl who thinks she is a cyborg and does not eat anything, thinking it will harm its circuitry. But there was this mad guy in the same hospital who made people believe that he can exchange the power with other people to make them happy!

With time this guy made the girl believe that he is a cyborg yet made her eat food saying he has fitted a circuit inside her that will digest human food. The beauty of the movie is how the girl which she believes herself to be a cyborg turns herself into a human being slowly with the guys trust. And slowly she realizes human love and affection and tends to turn normal human being.

Can you beat that? I mean a story like that? Its like that "Bicentinial man" starring Robin Williams, where a robot learn to have human emotions and dies as a human. Korean movies rock man!!

Cyborg and humans..or should i say Koreans?

I watched this new Korean movie i brought from home called " I am Cyborg but thats OK". Its basically a psycho movie that starts in a rehab center with all sorts of mad people. Its a story of a girl who thinks she is a cyborg and does not eat anything, thinking it will harm its circuitry. But there was this mad guy in the same hospital who made people believe that he can exchange the power with other people to make them happy!

With time this guy made the girl believe that he is a cyborg yet made her eat food saying he has fitted a circuit inside her that will digest human food. The beauty of the movie is how the girl which she believes herself to be a cyborg turns herself into a human being slowly with the guys trust. And slowly she realizes human love and affection and tends to turn normal human being.

Can you beat that? I mean a story like that? Its like that "Bicentinial man" starring Robin Williams, where a robot learn to have human emotions and dies as a human. Korean movies rock man!!

25 Nov 2007

Respect for Engineers

When i walked down the plane in Mumbai airport,i had this water bottle in my hand. I gobbled it up as i waited for the bus to transport us to the main aerodrome. Unable to dispose off at the runway, i asked a person sitting on the plane's thick tyres where i can dispose it off? He looked sad and shouted enough to make me hear despite the noise of the engine nearby. I could not hear the first time and he shouted again, " i am an engineer"! I said "oops " and walked away taking the bottle with me.

Later i realized that it was a wrong thing, i should have apologized to him. At least an engineer should understand an engineer, no matter what field he may be in! He might have thought that i have taken him for some ground maintenance people or something like that. But i liked the way he kept his low profile yet claiming to be an engineer :)
I respect you dude, whatever your name is!

Hacker's convention

Have i ever told you that i have been invited to India's very first "Hacker's Convention" to be held in December in Pune? Well, i have been. I am so excited about it, but i am not sure if i could make it that day as i have some serious work coming up!

Read more at Clubhack

funny love

Its so funny to see someone in love. I wonder if i looked the same way when i was crossing the bridge ! I have this friend who has never fallen in love or ever had a GF but would like to have one. He keeps telling me of his failed attempts to woo a girl. Anyway this time, he thinks he is in love ! Well at least i can tell that he is acting strange this time. He searches lyrics of romantic songs and messages me...

And if i keep telling that he is in love, he would say shes his school friend and all that crap. But deep inside i know he yearns for that one girl; it may not be her as well but the same feeling will make him fall for her with time.

22 Nov 2007

Something about love

Love is the funny tickle in the stomach when you see someone.
Love is searching for love quotes on the internet.
Love is a pain that has no name.

14 Nov 2007

The other side of Horizon (Part 2)

15th nov; 8.50 pm

When I stare down from the plane above, everything looks the same! There is no Manipur, no Nagaland or whatever land it is. I cannot even see the demarcations marked by people claiming to be their state or district. Yet there are demarcations in our lives that separate each of us into states, districts, streets etc. But from above, the whole earth seems to be my homeland..my only home. Maybe that’s why God sees us all equally likely. Maybe that’s the difference between God and us! The whole of North East has been lacking from the rest of the world and yet alienated by rest of India. “Sana leipak” or “Land of jewels” it is called by the people residing in Manipur. I would love to make it worth the name, yet find it strange enough to accept it even though it pains me rejecting the same.

To add to its agony, its people are looting its own people for their selfish ends. From a clerk to politicians, all love the green and they can get their hands dirty enough to get the maximum benefit out of it. The UGs run almost a parallel government by their own rules and ethics, unfamiliar and unfavorable to the common people. Yet people have remained quiet till now as everyone fears death, which is the only certain thing in this place. Look at every department in the state, the funds allotted for any project is underutilized and the dividends goes to the UG, politicians as well as the officers concerned. It has become a part and parcel of a Manipur’s lifestyle. There are few honest and sincere persons left in this whole system yet its difficult for them to survive and make a stand of their own. Its like everyone dirtying the river by taking bath in it, they know its dirty yet they still bath in it and make themselves dirty in it. The whole system is paralyzed with fear, anxiety, depression and sufferings. A person works day and night to get his family a decent food and life, yet some people earn easy money and rise up fast. We have to be in the system to change the system.

That’s the sad thing about this place. Those who are suppressed seem to like it and those who suppress enjoy doing it. The saddest part is that those who are in a position to help others who are being suppressed and give a helping hand are also just sitting and watching the show. Isn’t it high time we give our today for a better tomorrow! It takes a second to be selfish but it takes a lot of courage and determination to be a person you dreamt of in life. Are you supposed to give away your dreams just for the thought that there are hindrances in life? Aren’t you supposed to fight for your freedom and struggle to achieve it? Maybe the people have forgotten the meaning of freedom as in real freedom. Every citizen has the right to freedom, but maybe people are so used to being suppressed that they won’t raise a hand against the existing system! Maybe they have to worry for himself rather than the society? Its such a narrow mindedness that would lead to your own downfall if not today.

I am writing this blog burning the midnight oil, lost in my own thoughts. Somewhere someone is not able to sleep; he has just lost his parents in a terrible accident. What does it matter to the rest of the people whether I am awake writing blogs or someone is awake because of the pain and sufferings? To live in a free society, one has to care for such things in and around him. People in this state are ready to burn their extra calorie for the sake of few hundred rupees today. People are ready to die for few rupees more. The smiles that you see in their faces are not of happiness but a persuasion for others to be happy despite their own struggles in life. The innocent people here are ready to sell out their trade for the cost of their freedom. After all its what man is all after about at the end of the day. A hell lot of engineers and doctors, forget the graduates or masters, are lying idle, as if they have surrendered their weapon before the war. The law of jungle applies everywhere, so does the Darwin’s theory – “survival of the fittest”. There has not been an order in life that would make the lives of common man a cordial one! Many die of hunger and thirst everyday in the sun and rain, what makes the difference is the will to struggle. Life can bring you odds and evens I life, which comes with a probability and priority.

In the shade of light, my own shadow makes fun of me for these thoughts that I have instilled in me. Call me insane, or a fake but what if my thoughts come true! There is enough light on the other side of life that would enlighten others lives as well, what it needs is just a voice to ignite it. Life still goes on like the flowing river, no matter how shallow the river be it still flows in the same direction. The chilly winter breeze woke me up gently with its gentle touch shaking me with a jolt. Love is a disease of the heart, which spreads slowly and steadily.

The morning sun rays beamed on my face as if some commandos have flashed their high power torch on my face in the dark, and i looked around my perimeter frozen like an innocent citizen! It took me 5 seconds to realize that i was at my bed in Imphal,breaking the 5 second silence. I looked at my "still asleep mobile" and woke it up to see the time,only to realize that its 5 in the morning!! I yelled at myself "Shit!! WTF it's only 5 in the morning !" as if i have never seen 5 in the morning in my life. I reckoned of the plans for the day,ignoring the shouts of aunty to her naughty daughter downstairs. Suddenly an alarming wakeup call from aunty shook the plans and i had to shout back that i am already up -rise and shine. Descended from my throne and searched for my golden slippers with dreamy eyes; yawned as if i have risen from the dead and ransacked the luggage for my toothbrush and went on with the rest of the day.

N.B. Somone tipped me to write short and effectively. Will try that next time

The other side of Horizon (Part 1)

Have you ever seen the horizon at dawn from an aeroplane? If not then you have missed the most beautiful sight in your whole life! You can see a crimson red, thin piece of sky,all around. It seems like God had decorated the whole earth with flowers in the sky.Maybe i am blessed to see that sight this time,like that of "Aurora Boralis" or "Aurora Australis" !

With high hopes and expectactions that my Diwali vacations will be spent happily and peacefully,i thought of the days to come.I saw the glittering waters of the Loktak lake below and finally shining houses everywhere with the reflection of the sun. We finally landed on the soil of Imphal,the captain announced the temperature to be 29*C and wished us a good time ahead.I decend down the steps of the aeroplane as the steps were brought to contact with the plane. I did not pay attention to what the stewardess had wishpered to me as i walked out of the airbus,and watched the other passengers climb down the steel bird.I wishpered to myself "Thank God,m finally here!" I rushed to the luggage setion with an unattended trolley to get my bag and waited for my bag to show up. As i watched the other passengers,i felt a sense of satisfaction myself as if i had reached the right place. The smiling faces of the passengers made me feel that it was indeed a homecoming journey and happy days are ahead.Got my bag and put it into the trolley where i dragged till i saw the driver approaching me and drove off till home.

The way home was exciting as if i am new to the place,looking left and right and seeing the differences it has been after i had left last time! Reached home and was welcomed with a small traditional 'aarti'. Changed my clothes and rested for a while and came down for lunch. Had the best food after all these time and savoured them deliquently. When i retired to bed for rest, i saw an old yellow coloured local newspaper lying on the table bearing news of dead,injuries and other accidents etc.I took it up in my hands and read it slowly,memorizing the scripts as i read,only to realize that it was previous day's paper.I wondered when it will all end and would be able to read good news!! Manipur,after all these years haven't changed in one thing - bad times. News of extortion,kidnappings,shoot outs,court cases,politics etc still prevailed and may continue to find its place on the front page of the local newspaper for quite some time i thought!

Yet with the hope that tomorrow will be much better,i got dressed and got ready to meet Father George of my old Don Bosco High School. No matter how much one succeed in life or what height he may attain in life,he cannot forget his own teachers in school. For they were the main reason behind the success. They gave their heart and soul for us to lay down this culture and discipline in us that we managed to attain the heights we already have achieved. The roads were dusty,pampered and broken like the lines of an old man,yet managed to reach the school. With a deep sigh of relief,i entered the school campus and met my teachers and Fathers. I had few little things in mind that i wanted to discuss with Father regarding the development of students and society. I am not playing the good Samaritan here but am trying to give my best effort in improving the conditions of people in and around me. Maybe the Moral Science that we studied in School days were the main reason for these insticnts to help people!

The first day in Imphal was a good one,i thought as i lie down in bed amidst the thick mosquitoes in the darkness.I had a refreshing session with some people of "Bosco Mangaal", an NGO run by Father for the youths.All i could say is that,there is kindness in this world after all! Life could have been worse for some people,if it were not for this NGO with the instinct to help and care for the society. The first day in Imphal ended with a smile as i retired to bed,driving away the moquitoes from their long claimed kindom,as i set the mosquito net. I could not sleep though for quite some time as it was too early from my normal "bedtime halucinations". My thoughts wavered and wandered far across the "kingdom of the valley" to the "kingdom of heaven" where everyone dreams of having a perfect and happy life. But i could not see angel nor God in that heaven and thought something is terribly wrong with this so called "heaven". Realizing the fact that it is Manipur,i remembered one tag i had given myself when i was having a bad time -"God forsaken place". Maybe it would be hard to digest on some people's part to accept the tagline but i believe that in their young hearts they firmly believe otherwise! With these thoughts,i fell into a deep slumber,tagging along the big moreh blanket along with the "queen of darkness".

To be continued...

12 Nov 2007

Look at the bright side

There are millions of things to worry about in LIFE.
But there is only one thing you have to worry in DEATH - when and how!!

11 Nov 2007

Favourite restaurants/hangouts

Some of my favorite hangouts/restaurants.

Delhi:
1) Delhi Haat
2) Momo's point in Kamla Nagar

Pune:
1) Pizza hut in Aundh
2) Kobe (steak)
3) Sizzlers in DP road (amazing Pork sizzlers)
4) a small kerala Beef restaurant in Vishrantwadi
5) Burger king
6) Mar-zorin in MG road (good view)
7) Cafe Coffe day - Law college road, Koregaon park
8) Apache (FC road)
9) McDonalds in JM road
10) Kachi dhabeli on Hong kong market lane (wow)
11) Blue nile at Camo area (amazing non veg)
12) George (MG Road)
13) Mahesh lunch home in Camp area
14) Punjabi Rasoi in Koregaon park (god punjabi foods -veg)

Mumbai:
1) Mochas
2) "Bagdadis" in Colaba


Manipur:
1) Fireball
2) Nekheel (amazing cheap momos)
3) Orchid (chicken macroni)
4) Nirmala (decent lunch/dinner)

A simple wish


I wish our lives were just like the stars on a clear dark night.
There's no right or wrong in it. They are just there in their place.


Day by day,i struggle to maintain not only my patience
but my sanity. It seems all like a blurr. I don't know anymore
what's wrong and what's right.The morale of man is low.
There are hatred and jealousy everywhere.


I can't believe that people are fighting each other
instead of them! Hope things get better soon.


Someone please tell mama that...
well.... just tell her m fine.



Courtesy: http://www.polarimage.fi/stars2/ex00441b.jpg

Patience


Patience does not mean that you have to bow,
but to struggle.
Patience means wait for your turn.



8 Nov 2007

Guest at my own home

How will you feel if you have been alienated from your own home? Where will you turn up,to whom will u ask help? In times of need,the close ones are there to help but for how long,thats the question!! Life in Imphal,my own hometown excites me when i am about to leave for it. But the moment i enter the Red line,it seems a different life here. There actually is something about Manipur that drives me crazy.Who would not be excited to go back home and seek a peaceful vacation?

Theres no doubt in saying that i am not at all excited anymore to go back home thinking of all the inconveniences i would be bearing at home. Infrastructure,facilities,richness are few things which is of not much concern at this juncture of life in Imphal. I may complain of bad roads or electricity but what triggers one most at times of solace is the environment in which he lives! Imagine living in fear every day..waking up every morning with the fear of UG knocking on the door,fear of driving on the rods less someone shoots me down out of suspicion,fear of listening to hindi music loudly,fear of highway patrols,fear of frisking on roads... How can a person who comes home for some peace and happiness find real happiness in such a situation? Everyday seems to be just another day,a normal day ...full of fear. How can the minds of younger generations grow and think good of the society when the environment is worse and life becomes worser with each passing day?

Today my friend who stayed in Imphal for years told me the real life situations of his friends that shook me to the roots.His friends does not have any money to give his wife for a traditional festival,where daughters/married sisters are invited by parents or brothers for a feast together. His friend did not have enough money even to buy some sweets for his wife to take them to her parents home and so he wanted to give his bike on mortage for the money! Some have stopped their daily work due to some family problems..some has his child suffering from jaundice and has to pay everyday for stay of his wife in hospital despite the poverty that prevails. Life seems to be a big injustice on their part.They may be cursing their parents why they were born ..to see that day in life. Life can be harsh to someone i did not forsee.I mean i have seen in movies but in real life,when you face such circumstances you fell like froze to hear them out.

But there is a silver lining in every dark cloud. After the rain comes the sunshine. Nothing is lost at all. We can start afresh and do our part,contribute thoughts if not monetarily.Motivate people and show some path to those who have never troddden the way,if that's all you got to give. With rising unemployment and poverty in he state,what we can do is contribute some money we have in voluntary organizations which teach or coach people to speak well. Language will be the first barrier that comes through ones job profile. First they learn how to speak and write English or Hindi well or both and then apply for jobs accordingly..say class X passouts or drop outs can apply in retail sectors and graduates in BPO. BPOs are not bad as one things when it comes to money,though thw work culture can be drastic for newbies.

It's better to work and stay in some other state outside Manipur than stay as a guest in his own state,don't you think so? My idea is not to provoke the young mids to move out of Manipur,but to give channels or show path that there can be other options to live better life and be happy. Everyone deserves a better life,at least much better than this life here in Manipur. The value of freedom can be known to those only who have experienced oppression and injustice in life. That does not entitle that i have been deprived of justice or something like that, i am talking about people in general terms. So friends,lets do our part in life. Study hard,work hard and try to help others who could not make a difference.

Manipur roads

I am here at Imphal and have been quite unhappy for one reason,the roads. I cannot even overtake when i need to go in hurry because of that. Can you believe it? Half of the road is submerged and have craters all over while some roads have a long dusty path. The road from Khongnang ani karak to Chingmeirong is so dusty i have to close one eye and drive.


Compare this with the general road i had just experienced a few days back in Delhi. well i know its beyond comparison ..Delhi and Imphal . Yeah but the one above is National Highway 53 while the road which is shown below is just a normal road in Delhi.


What a pethetic National Highway. What are the authorities doing? National highway is a concern of the National Highway and Road Develeopment authorities. Are they listening?

29 Oct 2007

Reset your windows XP password

Have been on a long vacation and forgot your Windows XP passwrd? What will you do?

The Seventh sense - Love

From time immemorial, man have known to the five senses -touch,sight,taste,smell and sound. The sixth sense is something that comes from ones own conscience based on his knowledge and experiences in life.It is these senses that man count on in life to live and survive,in short the six senses of life forms. With the five former senses in every living beings,its the sixth one that differentiates an animal from a human being. In critical times,and in times of need it is this sixth sense that helps a man decide to survive in this jungle. Based on Darwin's "survival of the fittest" one has to learn to put a good use of these God gifted senses. In today's jungle in fact,the sixth sense helps a human being carry out impossible tasks for following the senses of the inner thoughts and prejudices. But the most important and most ignored sense in a person is Love.

In today's world of cut throat environment, one has to suppress another to survive in this jungle. Amidst these jungle,we have forgotten to live a simple life. Movies like "The Village" would portray the beauty of a simple life without hatred,enmity,killings,stealing etc. In fact the story in Ten Commandments in which a priest goes to a remote village,inhabited by local people who does not have any contact with the outside world to spread religion. He had to try hard to make them understand what religion is all about to the local people there.He made signs of the Almighty that made this world,gave food and animals and everything on this universe. Upon the end of the day he told the local people not to steal as it is a bad thing. The local people did not know what stealing was. So the priest had to teach them how to steal to make them not to steal.The big question here is - who is more civilized? The local people who did not know what stealing was or the priest who taught them to steal inorder to make them not to?

The first and the foremost feeling that a person feels about someone might perhaps be Love. It is that pure felling that has made people forget his personality and made them become one the other person would love.This transformation is critical in one's life and maybe he does not realize it himself in course of time. A simple touch,a simple smile or the slight utter of name on someones lips makes one yonder in dreams.It may be the only sense in humans that make the hormones go haywire,making the person feel nervous and nausea.There are no exact words to describe the love for a person..though with the help of the wisdom of human beings we describe them in a mere few words of language. Though language is not a barrier for love,it has become a spoken language with time and the sense soon forgotten in those cover of words. The true sense and real feeling have been defined in words of some language and left for others to think of it and imagine rather than feel the true sense of the hormonal flow.In fact it must have been very difficult for someone to come up while expressing ones love,and maybe thats why love has no language at all. It can be seen at the slightest action done in one's favour.

Love can be witnessed by at least a drop of fear from the agony of the heart. When the mind is wide open,only then one can give and receive love. It can be pure as ones heart and sweet as ones memory,and sparkling like a dew drop when it becomes intense.It has no language,no barriers,no framework .... nothing. Love comes from nowhere and ends in nowhere.Maybe its the only thing in this universe whose start or end is not known. Maybe hormones are made of love and affection;maybe i am crazy in my own way.But time will tell who is crazy when love befalls them.

"Binary Search Algorithm" in Life

I came up with this algorithm in C++ class and got hooked onto it.Its quite interesting algorithm which can applied in real life situations,love life for example. So first let us know about the algorithm,how it works and its characteristics and then relate with a persons life.It is very interesting to know that it searches for a specific characteristic only after sorting them out in a particular fashion.

What is a Binary search algorithm?
Binary search algorithm (or binary chop) is a technique for finding a particular value in a sorted list. It makes progressively better guesses, and closes in on the sought value by selecting the median element in a list, comparing its value to the target value, and determining if the selected value is greater than, less than, or equal to the target value. A guess that turns out to be too high becomes the new top of the list, and a guess that is too low becomes the new bottom of the list. Pursuing this strategy iteratively, it narrows the search by a factor of two each time, and finds the target value. A binary search is an example of a dichotomic divide and conquer search algorithm.A typical use of binary search algorithm can be depicted in the following program.

BinarySearch(A[0..N-1], value, low, high)
{
if (high value)
return BinarySearch(A, value, low, mid-1)
else if (A[mid] Similarities with Life:
A binary search algorithm searches for a particular aspect/characteristic, here it checks if the middle value of the high and low values is greater or lower than the value provided. Depending upon the relation of the middle value with the given value,it performs or returns a different result ,here sorting the value at top or last position accordingly. Life is like that ! Don't believe me? In any aspect of life, one has to overcome so many things in life inorder to go ahead in life. For that he has to rely on his thinking capabilities and ability to solve a problem quickly and effectively. The algorithm may not apply directly in the sense that he may not have to find out an intermediate between two choices and arrange it in a fashion or something like that. But i reassure you that almost everyone solves a problem with some backup plan in his mind in case that solution does not work out.

The basic way of solving a problem is to classify the problem into smaller identifiable tasks and overcome it one by one instead of overcoming the problem as a whole.It can be related to modular programming where programs are made up of small modules.The reality of a problem is that none likes complexities in life and want to have a simple one.Though some may find it to be challenging in life to meet complexities and accept it to be a part of life,their wish would have been the same - to simplify it as much as possible. Like the binary search algorithm,we humans divide the problems into smaller parts and try to achieve it part by part instead of dealing with it as a whole. Depending upon the complexity of the task,he classifies it as long term,short term or maybe difficult and easy tasks. Then after sorting the tasks he tries to achieve them one by one and altogether try to create the overall result expected out of it. He wishes to give the expected result depending on the complexity he handled during the procedure.

British also did the same when they ruled India -divide and rule policy. we humans do it in our day to day lives so often that we have lost insight of it. Jokes apart we humans also try to gain someones love using such algorithms or policies. Set one against another and gain from their their enmity. Who doesn't use it nowadays - politicians,crazy lovers,mathematicians,physicist etc. In fact searching of brides use this algorithm. Obtain background of the bride/groom and set an expected characteristics of the groom/bride,sort them out in order of preferences and then finally select the one most suitable. Or in shopping where we select things out of quality,price or some other things and compare it with the nominal ones.Upon sorting out in order,one buys the one which suits him the best in terms of money,quality or performance.

Everyone lives a life out of experiences and forgets the real nature of life. He counts more on his experiences rather than his senses and thoughts in life. Maybe thats why we fail to recognize these steps,methods and algorithms we use in life and unable to accept it even though one would tell them. Like Al Pacino in Scent of a woman who believed in his own ability to do his own work without help,we should try to develop these senses that has been long learnt yet forgotten and go ahead in life with these senses too. His beliefs,his thoughts,his wishes all stand out in his speech in the last instance. he could see the potential in the boy even though he was blind. He did not went for his experiences and thoughts for the boy but used his senses in him to determine what kinda boy he was and stood for him till the end and brought him glory and pride. Some lessons are taught by movies too,don't u think so?

Written with some help from Wikipedia

28 Oct 2007

Life is all about what you like most

When i see my working friends pull out money to pay for the dinner or lunch,i usually think of the day i would be earning and doing the same. I have seen so many working friends investing and buying things of their interest. I had this friends who loves music a lot and so when he got salary;out of nowhere he bought this DVD home system. I was wondering why he bought it out of the blues instead of paying the debts he had! And i realized that life is all about doing what one likes it to be. One wants to see what he wants to see,listen to what he wants to listen and do what wants to do. Now i believe that he must be having a good time listening to music and watching movies when he have spare time from his work and be happy about it!

Sometimes we buy things out of impulses and try to be happy with it.But sometimes this impulsive shopping can be a waste if you do not put a good use of it later in life.Its same for everyone i guess! When was the last time your head spinned when you saw a nice dress,electronic gadgets,or something of interest and long to buy it someday when you have time and money? Well everyone has some wishes in life to possess something that he wished long before. Maybe he had thought of it so many times to buy it without going into the details of the price,performance or quality. He just want to buy it to fulfill his long desired wish.Maybe a new product had come in its place much better yet when he is set to buy it,he will think twice to buy the later product because the former one had clicked his mind somewhere that made him come there to buy. You might be thinking i am talking about shopping impulsively and what it has to do with one's life! Well if you think again you will realize that its not the shopping that matters but the life he has had. Shopping or buying something to fulfill one's wishes is just one aspect of life doing what he believes to be the best for him,for his entertainment and recreation.

I believe that when one starts to work,he finds it hard to pull out a cheque unnecessarily and expects a corresponding ROI from that investment or expenditure.Maybe he has become more possessive about his money. But that is another aspect of life as he sees his hours,days and weeks of hard work in those salary. At the end,life is all about he believes it to be. He earns to support himself and his family and have a good time in the mean time.Everybody wants to have a dream job with figure salary and get the best out of his life. He instead of relishing the good time he have with the salary thinks of those hard work he put into to get that salary. In short he becomes frustrated in life thinking that he gets less and maybe he should have more relaxing job. Very few people understand their responsibility in life and argues with his work most of the time.Maybe he got into the wrong job profile or he doesn't enjoy his life at all.

Life has given us everything we need to survive and its the utmost responsibility of each one of us to take care of ourselves. Life is all about sharing and caring for your dear ones,its all that matters at the end of the day whether you believe it or not. Someone had truly quoted that "Religion is what a man does in solitude." Its not necessary that one be religious in life. Religion is all about ones beliefs and trust in life,without which one has no image of his own. Religion is not necessarily prevalent in a person but religiousness does. Its all about standing up for his beliefs and trusts in life and making upto it. Life can never be the same when you stand up for your dreams and beliefs in life rather than following someones.

A lazy Sunday;should i call it a perfect one?

After a slight hangover from yesterday's Chicken Hakka Noodles i woke up with a slight tilt in head and got ready for the perfect another sunday. Tuned into some old songs by Bryan Adams,Scorpions,Bon Jovi etc and went for bath.Took a long shower except without the shower nozzle to keep me fresh the day ahead,with the music in background playing soft enough to dwindle the blues away. Soaked some old clothes into the bucket only to find its darkness drooping. Was feeling a bit weakness in my hands,maybe i worked hard !! I lied down in my bed listening to the music and thinking what if the people started playing cricket again and broke the window pane again only to get myself hurt! Closed my eyes and felt the gush of air from the fan above as i listened to the background music.

Caught an eye and did not realize when i fall asleep despite the knockings on the door. I woke up and put the music to rest and surrendered myself to a sweet slumber. Dreamt of angels and beautiful girls around that kept me asleep till i realize its too late to call it a day. Washed my face and went to Cafe for some food less i become more weaker. Met some frens on the table and ordered mine.. Chicken fried rice. There was this movie of James Bond showing on Star world in Hindi..Die Another Day. from the distance i was watching i could not distinguish it was hindi or English though from my knowledge of Star world i knew it was in Hindi only. So grabbed my food and digged into it with the two spoons i had in hand and grubbed it up with water.
The mess people told me they stopped giving on credit,to which i did not pay much attention and came to my room. Downloaded some movies from the file sharing software DC++ with thousands of movies,songs and other resources shared across the LAN.

I finally sat down and lighted a cigarette much to the amusement of the glistening laptop before me. I opened my mail boxes and deleted SPAMS and junk mails and said phew!!
Though it was not much of a day to call it off,i decided to jot it down here. Sundays are made to be imperfect i thought,to unwind all those done in the week and put a rest to all those that i had been doing and start something new or maybe resume something i had left midway in the week!
Well whatever it may be -perfect or imperfect Sunday i realize that Sundays are always boring unless you freak out,go out somewhere and have fun. Lying in one place would not do much help. Though the whole week maybe spent outside working or having fun,this one day could really tell your feelings about ur life. A sunday left unattended nicely could affect your next day!
Thats what i thought and decided to make the most of it ,if i cant go out or have fun interacting with others! Well so far so good,and now i am about to watch movies till dinner time. So see you folks on monday or maybe in evening when i have something unusual to relate about this imperfect sunday.

26 Oct 2007

Moonlight fishing (Poem series)



My heart lingers on the moon to be in the same place
I hummed not to the music but to your sweet voice
The glittering waters reflecting the moments of ecstasy,
flowing among the rocks.
The mountain gazed at me pondering what i was doing
at the middle of the full moon night!
The trees whisper among themselves about me
But i went on..

I was angling on the flowing,glittering waters
Eventually all things merge into one and
a river flows through it.
Its water flowing over the rocks of time.

An unfinished poem,left midway...but somehow makes sense to me today

Foto Courtesy: Bruce Berrein

My life (Poem series)

Sing me a song unsung,unheard of;
Show me a lad,unseen ,unknown of;
Leave me in solitude,alone;
Steal my memories from those moments.

My life is that song-unheard to anyone
I am that lad,unknown of
I am that solitude that you know
Since the day we parted ways
to create new memories

Written on 31st October 2000 in train

My friend,are you? (Poem Series)


A soul mate you were for me since childhood..
Never there was a day spent without you
Wasn't there as single secret between us..
With such jealousy the world looked at us
"Don't be dependent on each other", said he,
who knew the pain of departure.
Ac child we were and didn't hark at him.

One day,a time came to part from each other
Departed him with such a heavy heart,
couldn't drag myself away from him.
But sadly had to leave him alone.
And return to my own world before sunset.
But are you the one today;
which was my soul mate yesterday?


Written sometime back in 1997

Foto courtesy: Archies online

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