A case of

Life imitating Art

What's the trouble with VOIP?

Sure voip is cheap and on the verge of becoming ubiquitous, but there's one thing that a lot of people are missing. It's not something that most people think about, but the fact that the phone companies own your landlines provides you a great deal of security. No one can eavesdrop on your phone conversations without the active approval of the phone companies. Even governments need to get the telco's approval to tap your line.

Not so with voip. It's not even funny as to how easy it is to subvert network traffic or even to listen in. All of a sudden it's easy for the mob to figure out the restaurant doesn't intend to pay any protection. Suddenly the NSA really could be listening to everything. Hell, even the neighborhoor kid could.

The only solution would be to make sure that all voip conversations start and end on encrypting phones. The economics of how that works out would be interesting. Perhaps we'd go back to a situation where the phone companies can make more money off the equipment than the transmission medium.

Comedy Quip

"So my wife just divorced me. After 15 years of marriage, it's pretty devastating when you lose someone with excellent credit."

Comedy Night Gem - 6

"I know I'm 26 now, but part of me is still 7 years old. Like, as a little kid, I would eat a whole box of cereal I didn't like just so I could get the toy at the bottom of the box. These days I have conversations with women."

Vista - Access: Limited Connectivity

I'd talked earlier about the problems that I had getting internet connectivity once I did the upgrade to Vista. Well it only took 3 months but I've finally found the solution to the problem. This is the link to the Microsoft knowledge base article that describes the fix.

Apparently the problem is that Vista requires DHCP discover packets to have the Broadcast flag set which is something that some non-microsoft routers can't handle. XP Service Pack 2 had this flag automatically disabled. The fix requires you to make a registry modification - you need to set the DhcpConnForceBroadcastFlag in the registry to 0. The knowledge base article suggests first adding another registry entry but that doesn't really seem to work. You could try it if you want to.

PS: The article talks about GUIDs which are basically the identifiers for your network cards. You'll find that these are actually long strings of numbers like D4-06-A1...

Leave a comment to let me know if it worked for you, or if you've got some other solution in case this fix didn't work

24 September 2007

Today's number is:

176373734.5

Lesson for the day

I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.
-- Mark Twain

Check out YouTube yet?

You can now forward to any point in a YouTube video without having to wait for it to load. Took a while after the acquisition for it to imitate Google Video's behaviour, but atleast it's been fixed with the new roll-out. What's even better is that the clunky behavior where you couldn't accurately click on a point in the video timeline has been fixed; so you can now skip back and forth with all the precision your mouse will allow. Actually let me clarify that. There still seems to be a problem when skipping backwards when close to the start of the video. Oh well, nothing's perfect.

Haven't been able to see the new high quality encoded videos yet but right now it's just for iPhone users, and my suga-mamma hasn't coughed one up for me yet. Guess I'll have to make do with what they still have.

Summer Concert Series - The Fray

A pretty damn good concert by the Fray at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. This one's Over My Head

I'm now on the Sania Mania bandwagon

Not that she needed more males on there. God, you go to a match and you'd have an enormous group of Indian guys yelling out to her, proposing marriage, and pulling out bollywood cliches that they're sure she'd appreciate if she'd only listen. But all that was just cos she was a cute desi chick out on the court. It was a chance for the repressed Indian sports fan to go out and cheer for a fellow countryman. That she's a pretty girl is an extra bonus. But she definitely deserves the hype now. Shahar Peer, Patty Schnyder, Dinara Safina, Martina Hingis...say what you want, that's a seriously impressive collection of top player scalps right there. I'd watched her a bit the past two years when she made the move up to 32, and I had to say I was rather underwhelmed by the entire package. She wasn't in any great shape, her backhand was shaky and she might have as well served her second serve underhanded. But even back then she could crank out a seriously impressive forehand.


She put it rather well when she said at the Stanford Classic last month that even though she cracked the top 40 earlier, she played at a top 70 level. But having gotten in great shape earlier this year (take a gander at her pic, she looks flippin hot!) she's been able to move around really well and, as she put it, set it up for her huge forehand.

You could see what she was talking about when she played at the Stanford Classic. She moved really well, chased down balls I didn't think she'd get to, and stayed in rallies much longer than her opponents. It looked like she had more punch in her second serve too....all in all a definite high calibre player. Though of course it could all have just been a flash in the pan, which was why it was such a pleasant surprise to hear of her great run at the Acura Classic. Fine she got crushed by Sharapova, but then again who doesn't? She's not going to be a top 5 or top 10 player, but she can definitely get into the teens. And she's just beaten Martina Hingis at the East West Bank Classic (such a terrible name). That's a pretty damn good streak by anyone's standards. It'll be fun to follow her at the US Open. Now that she'll be seeded, she shouldn't be facing Serena again too soon.

And she did win the doubles.


So yes, I'm a fan and I think she's a hottie. After all, who doesn't love a girl with a big.....um forehand.

Summer Concert Series - Lifehouse

In the first of a series, here's a clip of Lifehouse with You and Me. This was from their performance at the Greek Amphitheater at UC Berkeley (I should probably throw in a "Beat Cal" here).

Ramya Uncut #1

Me: You need help. Have you seen your hair lately?
Ramya: I'd say the same about you, but I haven't seen your hair in a couple of years

Zing!

"He shot hisself"

The girl's got a moving story - taking care of her grandma and her paralyzed dad. Unfortunately all's not well with the rest of the tale. He didn't exactly cover himself with glory during his accident.



Paula's right. She's got a really heavenly voice when she sings softer.

And continuing with the audition vein, I didn't know that Kelly Clarkson had that much of a personality. I'd be a fan, but it looks like her career's hit the rocks so it'd be kinda like a rat joining a sinking ship. Cool beans...




Damn you YouTube! I've got work that needs to get done and all the hilarious American Idol auditions don't help. Score!

Rachna Uncut #2

The following conversation took place on IM:

Me: yo check out this link
Rachna: internet not working
Me: ummm
Rachna: strange as it sounds
Me: worst excuse ever

Vista - Access: Local Only

I made the mistake of trying to upgrade to Vista Home Premium a couple of weeks ago. I haven't been able to connect to the internet via the ethernet connection ever since. Trawling the web for solutions hasn't helped. There have been tons of people with the same problem and no resolution. Hence I've thrown this post up with the intention of posting the solution once I've found it.

Doing my bit to make the world a better place.

Update: The fix is here.

Shamu and Pipes

I've taken to watching the Shamu Cam at random times of the day. Sometimes I'll have it up at work. It's utterly rivetting when those orcas swim by. I didn't know there were three whales in that tank. Who are the other two?

It's totally boring when you don't see any whales though. Hence in between the swathes of blue on screen, I played around with Yahoo Pipes and clunked together a simple little mashup that'll let you find a theater near you. In my case even the power of Yahoo Local and Maps won't help me out (curse you Stanford), but I trust you'll have better luck.

Gorgeous Cali

It's an absolutely gorgeous day today. Perfect temperature, a sun that's just sunny enough, a breeze that manages to find it's way through my window into my room, and a smattering of clouds that moves exactly enough to keep the glare off my monitor.

Thank heavens for days like these.

Update: It turned out even better. While my Philly tenure was marked by my supernatural ability to persuade the clouds to let loose their bounty every time I stepped outside, my rainmaking bad luck translated into my uncanny ability in Cali to arrive at a bus stop right after the bus had gone through. And so, when I saw two buses zip by just as I reached the bus stop, I figured it was par for the course. But being the glorious day it was, a third bus showed up in two minutes.

My Idea of a bumper sticker - 2

I'm living proof that most accidents happen at home

Pole Joke

Abe: wat's a pole joke?
Abe: P J
Abe: what's an imaginary pole joke?
Abe: P+iJ
Abe: so, was the joke funny?
Abe: of course not, the J is imaginary
Rachna: lol that was the most 'complex' joke ever!

Damnit!

I liked Colby.

Food!

Lunch was good today.



This one calls for chopped cilantro and mint, salt, pepper, all spice, garlic powder, and crushed red chili flakes for the marinade. To get the veggies to cook well, lay them under the chicken so they can absorb the flavors, as well as not overcook.

Comedy Night Gem - 5

"You know how Bush says that he's the moral compass for this nation? Well the problem is that compasses are supposed to point north, and his points to the middle east!"

My idea of a bumper sticker

"I'm smarter than your damn honor student"

Pickup line guaranteed to work on Indian chicks

"Hi, I'm an electrical engineer from Stanford with a 4.0 GPA"

Comedy Night Gem - 4

What do you think porn looks like for dogs? It's a picture of a man's leg!

Comedy Night Gem - 3

"I've noticed that the older men get, the slower they drive....by high schools."

Kathi #1

"I think I've lost an electron", one atom said to the other.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive."

He lives in you

This is one way to keep a memory of a loved one. Snort him.

If you want a really shitty broadband connection

You should try Google's latest offering.

I'll save you the trouble and remind you that today is April Fool's.

Rachna Uncut #1

Me: this is weird
Me: there's a stork-like bird in our backyard
Rachna: have you been naughty mr johnny?

In all fairness to Steve Ballmer

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took a lot of stick lately when media outlets ran stories about his criticizing of Google at a lecture at the Stanford GSB. Now I've always heard stories and accusations by people of how the media twists their words and spin them whichever way they think best serves their headlines. It was cool to see it in person.

A statement of Ballmer's, that many articles took him to task on, was his description of Google as a one trick pony - that they're only good at the online ad business and they're just milking it right now. Several articles took the milking reference to be a derogatory one, but Ballmer had actually used the milking term to help describe his view of the entrepreneurial life cycle - find a new idea, then milk the hell out of it. According to him, that was what Microsoft did before they decided they needed to reinvent themselves.

Then there were the articles that bashed him for labelling Google products as "cute". In all honestly, Ballmer came off as a real crowd charmer. The man had the entire audience in the palm of his hand for the full hour - they laughed when he wanted them to, they clapped when he deemed it. But the only time that he seemed to lose some of his poise was when students asked questions that were a pointed reference to Google. Microsoft's been fighting its image of the evil empire and with Google being the media darling that it is, he's often had to deal with questions asked by people enamored with Google and not necessarily Microsoft.

His method of dealing with it seemed to be to not refer to Google by name, instead calling them Microsoft's most visible competitor. But when the pointed Google question got asked, there was no getting around it. Ballmer did say that Google only had one major commercial product and that everything else that they had was "cute" and served as filler around that one product. He had, however, earlier mentioned that this was what all companies did - find their major product, milk the hell out of it, work on developing their next big idea, and invent cute stuff in the meantime to fill in the spaces around the flagship product.

Lost in all the criticism of Ballmer is his very valid questioning of Google - what comes after AdSense? Some say you don't need anything else. Online advertising is only just taking off as a market, and Google is at the forefront. There's also his reference to the one trick. Every company needs to reinvent itself to stay alive and it's a fair question to ask what Google's next trick would be. However, it seems too soon to level that charge at Google. There's a long way to go before it really needs another trick.

The Status Quo

In case you're wondering, this is what's going on right now.

What is K??

I vividly remember the incident that Krishnan is talking about, but I can't for the life of me remember if it really happened. Is this another school legend? - like the one where the Govt official walks in and insists that people open the windows and let the environment come in, or the CS teacher who said that he had two daughters, both of whom were girls.

But Krishnan nails his imitations of Ajoe and Salim sir. Ajoe'd always adjust his tie when called upon, and Mr. Salim did talk (and stand) exactly like that.

Ah good times. He did a pretty good Kookie too.

One day...

...I'm going to open a restaurant. I don't know what the cuisine would be, I don't know if I'd be the cook, but...

...one day I'm going to open a restaurant.

They don't always get it right

From the Stanford Daily:

Feb 17, 2000:
Four years before Facebook, a study co-authored by Norman Nie, professor of political science, showed that high Internet usage reduced social interactions.
“‘The results, which have already been publicized ad nauseum, largely boil down to a single discovery: the more time Stanford students spend online, the less time they spend doing other things,’ wrote Daily columnist Paul Kerschen a week later. ‘To which the appropriate response is, well, duh.’”

Nano City

Hotmail founder, Sabeer Bhatia, was at Stanford recently where he outlined his vision for Nano City - the most carefully manufactured settlement this side of Disneyland. The organizers of the event didn't do themselves much favors however, when they sent out an email announcing the event and the location, but neglected to mention the time!

The article in the Stanford Report talks about his plans to develop and finance the city, but omitted the point he kept stressing on during the entire talk - many previous attempts at building techno parks and providing infrastructure for tech firms in the hope that it would lead to an economic boom have fallen flat. This is because in India today, companies must chase employees. There is a surfeit of jobs and nowhere near enough well qualified people to do them. Bhatia was of the opinion that unless you made a place attractive for young people to live, there was no way these firms could survive.

It's a rather interesting change to the old adage - if you build it, they will come. Now you must entice the workers, provide them a sustainable and engaging environment, and then the companies will follow suit.

15 years down the line, we'll see if he's thought this through.

New Comedian on the block

Stanford proof that Jesus is Indian:
Fact: Indians hate to spend, so they save a lot
Fact: Jesus saves
=> Jesus is Indian!

Check out the new desi comic on the scene - Samson Koletkar. The dude's an Indian Jew with the thickest accent possible, and funny as shit.

Comedy Night Gem - 2

"Wouldn't it be ironic if Mexicans bought their books from Borders?"

Ingenuity

Hail human imagination. I need to pimp my wife? No problem.

Let he without blame....

I'd pointed earlier to my presence on Wikipedia. Observe the post that comes right after. The author complains bitterly about the lack of grammar in his college newspaper, yet his two line tirade is littered with incorrect usage of the word "its" and of course the pet fav - "your" for "you're".

More Nutiness

You can really tell how busy the other interns were. Tho I do think it was a rather decent flick. Check out the second comment.

He's still a mop haired darling

Sachin's just scored a cracking century in the match against the West Indies; the match is yet to finish but the result is pretty much foregone. What made this century of his special was that it came off 70 odd balls...a strike rate for a century that hasn't been seen from him for a while.

Now this isn't meant to be an analysis of his innings or whether he should really be batting in the middle order. What caught my attention was CNN-IBN's coverage of the match during the innings break. The anchors couldn't stop smiling. There was electricity in the studio. You knew that everyone in that room was crackling with childish exuberance. And that is the magic of it all. He's grown from a 16 year old kid to a mature 33 year old, but the joy he brings to the people hasn't changed. Sehwags and Dhonis are flavors of the year, but who else has the nation loved for nearly two decades?

We still love our big-hitting runts.

I'd like to thank the pool boy...

Doesn't the SAG Awards sounds like it's a granny porn convention?

Nostalgia

'Tis common tendency to forget how rough things were just a few years ago, but with XP Pro, it had been easier to forget the many illegal operations, program shutdowns and non-responsiveness that characterized every other version of Windows. Now that my new computer came shipped with XP Media Center, I have been reacquainted with these old maladies. Combine this with IE7's frustrating habit of conking out and not responding to right-clicks, and refusal to load new tabs, it feels like 98 all over again.

Thank God for Wikipedia

Or atleast thank Larry Sanger and Jimmy Wales. Learning and researching has never been easier. Often a problem faced when trying to look up a topic on Google is that commercial hits tend to dominate. This makes it hard to find sites that focus on the explanation of the concept. With an awesome encyclopedia like the Wiki, this is now no longer a problem

Comedy Night Gem - 1

Makes sense that this was the quip that brought the house down at Stanford's Comedy Night:

"That joke sucked so bad, it bent light!"

I'm on Wikipedia!

Perhaps not in the best possible way...I'm apparently a famed homosexual who's a good cook. We won't go into discussions into how life may imitate art.

This entry came about during my last internship where some of the other interns were obviously not concerned with the number of bugs that were piling up on the list. Apparently what seemed worthwhile was to put Archit and me on wikipedia.

Here, enjoy. Let it not be said that I cannot laugh at myself.

The perfect card for her on Valentine's Day

Visa

Diners Beware

For the sake of the universe, never order both pasta and anti-pasta

Evolution explained

Do you think that the road to evolution was charted by mothers telling their sons to stand up straight?