Kallu Moosi Yochisthey

Dedicated to you.

Finger on a Mac?

[Click image to enlarge. You must check it out.]

While browsing my Mac for 'connecting to a computer on the WLAN/ over the VPN', I found this interesting utility called 'Network Utility' under the Utilities folder in Applications. Then while browsing through the tabs at the top, I found the 'Finger' tab. So, I decided to finger it. And guess what I found- "Enter a user name and domain address to finger that user." I just couldn't stop myself from laughing! I guess, it's one of the funny sides of computer-human interface. Lol!

.

Friend Request?

We get lots of 'friend requests' on social networking communities online every now and then from people we don't even know. Folks, here's what one guy had to say to justify his 'need' for being a friend of this girl on Facebook. Name and details withheld, for obvious reasons!

Hi my friend

Im a positively possessive attitude that fuels the undying zeal to work for broader prospects puts me where I am today. A young lad hailing from anantapur but since 7 years in hyderabad who has seen the dark side of the life only to light up the future. A man with proven track in advertizing (I have own advertising agency) and i have one my own software company, now turned out to be a new generation film maker in tollywood and done as associate director for several Tollywood movies like NACHAVULE. Now im planning to make movie in my own direction, present under pre production. By the bye my name is "S****** *****Y" with thirty two years of experience on the earth. I would like to make friendship with u if u are interested please mail back or feel free to call.. Awaiting for your reply or feel free to call....

Take care

with love

S***

mail: s***@gmail.com mobile: 09***5.

.

Chatrapathi Spoof: Our first movie

This is what we made on one fine Wednesday evening. It was completely spontaneous and the acting was hilariously brilliant! Great job! Watch it and enjoy!

.

Happy Diwali

Happy Diwali 2009 to all of you! I miss home, but I know that we are all together on every occasion and every step of our lives. Miss you, family!

.

Facebook blues!

From: Yahoo Tech- Blogs:

Why do stories like this continue to surprise me?

Just when I think I've seen it all online comes a tale like the one of Tennessee's Sharon D. Jackson, who was arrested last month. Her crime? Sending a "poke" to another woman via the Facebook social network.

In my experience, few people really ever use the "poke" feature. ABC News calls it the "digital equivalent of waving at someone from across a crowded room." Others would call it the online version of a "what's up?" text message.

Either way it's an awfully harmless little feature... unless, it seems, you have a restraining order filed against you preventing you from contacting the person you poked.

It's unclear why the victim of the poke, Dana M. Hannah, has a restraining order against Jackson, but as of June, Jackson had been prohibited from "telephoning, contacting or otherwise communicating with the petitioner, directly or indirectly." It's equally unclear why Jackson poked Hannah -- or whether someone else did the poking in question under her guise -- as well as whether a poke constitutes either contact or communication.

Either way she's now in custody, as Jackson's lawyer tries "to get my hands on some Facebook documentation so we can better assess the situation." If convicted, violation of the earlier restraining order could net Jackson nearly a year in jail.

Important lessons here, folks. If you've been stalking someone to the point where they seek a legal remedy to keep you away from them, it's probably not a good idea to interact with them in any way online -- even with an innocent "poke." In fact, you might consider de-friending them on Facebook altogether to avoid the temptation.

[Article link: http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/152816/dont-poke-me-bro-facebook-poke-leads-to-arrest/]

.

Avril Rocks!

Dedicated to Avril's 25th birthday on Sep 27, 2009. Here's one of her best recent concerts, and one of my favorite songs, "I'm with you"- live in Toronto!

Gandhi Google?

Really?

[Snapshot of google.com page on Oct 02, 2009]

A day to remember and honor the father of our nation. To this great man who once lived and brought us independence... Cheers!

Happy Gandhi Jayanthi!

.

Yellowstone National Park Trip

Sat, Sep 05; 4:30 AM

It was the recreational vehicle (RV) we had hired out to spend the long Labor Day long weekend. The destination- Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, about 470 miles west of Rapid City. We had a RV campground booked at the Park for Saturday and Sunday. The very idea of going in an RV was fun! It’s a huge vehicle, the ideal American family recreational vehicle. It is a complete house inside- couches, bedroom, kitchen, washroom- all powered by this 4.7 L Ford engine. Our route: 350 mi on the I 90 west, then the rest on the US 14/ US 14A highway. This is not my first trip to the YNP, but with 10 people on board, it is a huge trip. We had beer, played blackjack and had lots of fun during the 10-hour-long drive.

Sun, Sep 05; 2.42 PM

We are driving through the Park roads, the one leading to our next stop, the famous Old Faithful geyser. The route is scenic, the weather is great, and the RV is all cleaned up after last night’s beer-burger-drumstick party at the campground. The Old Faithful geyser erupts every 45 minutes. The next eruption is predicted at 3.17 PM.

4.46 PM

The Old Faithful was absolutely awesome. The eruption rose to almost 100-120 ft. The scene was spectacular. Hundreds of tourists gathered the site to view the geyser go off. We’re now headed to Yellowstone Grand Canyon after a brief stop at the Yellowstone Lake. The lake is spread over 21 sq mi. The view is breathtaking. I cannot describe how beautiful is the park and the park routes. Tall, thin trees are partially green and brown. The roads are like forest highways. The Yellowstone Lake is accompanying us since the last 21 mi. The landscape is unending and breathtaking. From rains in the last few weeks, the mountains are covered with a blanket of greenery. The bisons are all over. The hot springs present a colorful picture with algae and other organisms growing all over. At one spring, the temperature was mentioned as 75 C/ 160 F. No wonder, the Yellowstone National Park is the world’s biggest, naturally preserved, geyser-basin.

Bear Sighting

Luckily for us, while we were on our way back from the Park, we saw this huge crowd of people hastily clicking pictures of a baby grizzly bear few feet away from the shoulder. There were Park Rangers with pepper spray handy, in case of any eventualities. It was a fitting end to our trip, as we were just talking about citing a bear in the Park. But when it was finally in front of us, it was a treat to our eyes. The bear was happily grazing on the green twigs and grass; not very bothered by the crowd.

Our journey back home was as exciting as it was while going. We had lunch, dinner, played cards and stopped at scenic spots to enjoy the most of nature. Overall, it was a memorable trip with a hell ‘o a vehicle, and the company of friends!

.

5000 visits

It's an achievement; it's a milestone. My blog has received 5000 hits since August 27, 2007 (although I started blogging from February 2006)! That's a good figure. Maybe I must work on making my blog more popular; maybe I must write more frequently. I am so glad to see many new people start blogging, and I am still encouraging some friends to start their own blog.

This just gives me some motivation to keep blogging, nevertheless, my very purpose of writing would be defeated if I didn't do justice to my blog.

.

You Me & The Bourgeoisie

I heard this song on the Apple iPhone 3G-S TV ad on the Apple website. And guess what, I instantly loved it. Here it is. Enjoy!


.

Phil Collins: "In the air tonight"

Now they can guess your Social Security Number

From Yahoo Tech Blog:

By now we've had it beaten into our thick skulls: Protect your Social Security Number at all costs, because those nine magic digits are the gateway to your entire life. Financial history, medical records... just about everything hinges on your SSN remaining private.

As such, large-scale thefts of SSN and other private information continue to make headlines, but this piece of news takes the cake: Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have now figured out a way to roughly reverse engineer the way in which Social Security Numbers are assigned. Armed with your date of birth and the state in which you were born, it's now possible to generate a quite small set of digits that are likely to contain your actual SSN.

How is this possible? Mainly because SSNs aren't just randomly generated. The first three digits are tied to your state of birth, and the next two digits (the "group number") are used sequentially as SSNs are handed out over time. The final four digits are supposedly random, but using a public database called the Death Master File, which lists SSNs that were held by the deceased, patterns emerged in those digits, as well.

The result is that, depending on the state and year of birth (the older you are and the larger your state of birth, the harder it is to guess your SSN), the researchers could guess a Social Security Number's first five digits with up to 90 percent accuracy, and the last four digits with up to 5 percent accuracy. Considering the odds of getting a SSN right by random guess really ought to be 1 in a billion, that's a phenomenal success rate.

And if those numbers seem small, consider that with the use of commonly-available botnets, computers could correctly guess dozens of SSNs every minute by simple brute force as they apply for bogus credit cards en masse. The Ars Technica story linked above also notes that many credit card verification services allow for a couple of digits in an SSN to be wrong, as a convenience for forgetful applicants, opening the door a little wider for hackers.

What happens now? It's hard to imagine an organization as venerable and bureaucratic as the Social Security Administration to change the way it works, but it's hard not to think that the nine-digit SSN may have at last outlived its utility, and its security. Still, just try to imagine the upheaval should the country attempt to move to longer numbers...

The Rules of the Car

The rules of the car:

Rule number 1: Respect a man's car.

Rule number 2: Greet the man.

Rule number 3: Wear your seat belt.
Rule number 4: Never make a promise you cannot keep.


.

Numbers from iWork '09

Apple has made Mac products keeping in mind that most Mac users have moved from a Windows PC experience. That is a very good thing about Mac and it's products. Numbers from iWork 09 is extremely streamlined and brilliant in appearance. I have been using Microsoft Office Excel for the past 5 years, and switching over to iWork Numbers was initially more of a comparison. I used to look for all the features of Excel in Numbers and found a few glitches. Foremost, it was a little inconvenient to select a box with the mouse. Sometimes you have to concentrate hard if you need to move a box. Excel was easier to use and selecting boxes with the mouse and moving it around was easier. Other than this, I found Numbers very streamlined and productive tool.

The 'templates' feature is good, and easier for the 'not-so-technical' user to create specific spreadsheets with ease. I bought iWork for $79 while I could have got a $10 discount with the 'Apple student store'. Numbers is nice, I use it for my homework at School and for planning road trips and organizing events. I love the 'export-to-PDF' feature on iWork which helps me create an instant PDF out of the entire document or even part of it.

Numbers '09 also can export the document in the format you want, including Office Excel. I would sure recommend Numbers to my friends!

.
All images from apple.com.

India election paves way for economic reform

From Yahoo news:

MUMBAI, India – India Inc. breathed a huge sigh of relief Sunday, a day after the ruling Congress Party won one of the most definitive electoral victories in nearly two decades of fractious coalition politics.

Congress' victory — and the near-collapse of India's once-powerfulcommunist parties — means key reforms in insurance, pension funds, banking and retail are now likely to get enacted.

But that doesn't translate into a mandate for sweeping pro-market liberalization, analysts say.

The global financial crisis has tempered India's appetite for deeper foreign investment and looser regulation. Moreover, Congress, which oversaw an unprecedented four-year boom, has cast itself as the party of "inclusive growth," a policy approach aimed at helping India's vast underclass while also pushing free-market reforms. It is unlikely to roll back costly social welfare programs that helped the party win the election — but also added to the nation's burgeoning fiscal deficit.

With the Congress-led coalition capturing 262 seats in India's 543-seat Parliament, Congress officials were in talks Sunday to finalize their political alliance — seeking the 10 additional spots needed to nudge them over the halfway mark in Parliament.

Mumbai attack suspect pleads not guilty

From Yahoo! News:

MUMBAI, India – The only surviving suspected gunman in last year's terrorist attacks in Mumbai pleaded not guilty Wednesday to all charges against him, including waging war against India and murder.

Prosecutors told the court that Mohammed Ajmal Kasab was one of 10 attackers responsible for killing 166 people and wounding 234 more during the three-day siege of India's financial capital last November. Nine other suspected gunmen were killed during the attacks.

Judge M.L. Tahiliyani, who is presiding over the trial, read out all the charges against Kasab in a Mumbai courtroom Wednesday. Kasab responded with a plea of not guilty and said, "I don't accept these charges."

Kasab will face the death penalty if convicted.

Kasab also told the court that he was 21 years old, prompting laughter in the courtroom because of the defense's recent attempts to prove that Kasab was a minor — under 18 years — which would have meant lighter penalties. After several medical examinations, Tahiliyani ruled that Kasab was 21 and would be tried as an adult.

Kasab also said that he was a laborer from the town of Faridkot in Pakistan's Punjab province.

Prosecutors claim the attacks were masterminded by the Muslim militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, and say investigations are ongoing to determine the scope of Pakistani involvement in the attack.

The attacks raised tensions between India and Pakistan, nuclear-armed rivals who have fought three wars against each other since gaining independence in 1947.

Kasab's two co-defendants — both Indians accused of helping plot the attack — also pleaded not guilty to a string of charges that included murder and waging war against India. They also face the death penalty.

.

Five Hundred Rupees

I found this video recently. Just shows how the value of Rs. 500 (USD 10) is different for different people. Must watch.

Please watch before you spend.

.

Musings on a Monday blizzard

That's how the Monday started- with a blizzard! The heavy winds with snow from Sunday midnight made sure that we get a day off from School. Yes, the School was closed, we were at home, nowhere to go, nothing to do, and we let our minds go wild... and we tried crazy things.

We had mango ice cream.. tried mix n match with that. Imagine adding couple of Ferrero Rocher chocolate balls, pepsi, guava nectar, orange juice and finally some California red wine! It tasted like some margarita in the end! Then we had things to eat like chapatis with mutton and dal.. we ate random stuff like cashews, popcorn... I learned more about the father of heavy metal, Ozzy Osbourne and his band, Black Sabbath. Also taught some of my friends little bit of Oriya.. ;)

It was fun watching people across the road maneuvering in the heavy snow with their 4x4 pick -up trucks and getting stuck. One guy almost got his Dodge Durango perpendicular to the 2-ft thick snow-covered road. I could see the trees covered with snow and the heavy wind was again blowing the snow off the trees and the roads were covered with heaps of snow-dunes. Watching the cars getting stuck, we had a debate on the difference between 4-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive vehicles.. [Mechanical engineers, anyone?]

This was the second snow blizzard in the past one month in Rapid City, and the 5th time the School was closed in the past 8 months. Perfect time to do some cooking at home. So we decided to cook different things, and I would now make some chilli-chicken. The day is coming to an end, but there is something to take away from this blizzard. Life's also like a snow blizzard. Sometimes in life it becomes really chilly and u are struck by a blizzard that leaves you paralyzed for some time period. Some others enjoy it, while some find it very depressing; for some, it means change from the routine, and for some, it leaves a permanent impression in their lives, and for many, it becomes long a forgotten, long-gone affair. The blizzard teaches you how to plan for the eventualities, like my room mates shopped for groceries last night before the blizzard began at 2 am.

Overall, the day was fun, staying indoors, listening to songs, and writing on my blog. I remember the blizzard in December last year which was the time when I got back on my feet, made a stringent decision.. and tried myself to get back up.. Reminds me of that Linkin Park song- "take everything from the inside and throw it all away.. 'coz i swear for the last time, i will trust myself with you..."

Man! I love Linkin Park.

.

Nee Kosam

For you.

.

3 years of blogging

I first began blogging on Feb 6, 2006. I had a lot of excitement, fun and overall, lots of expectations from my blog. These were the very first lines I had ever written in the blog-o-sphere:

My first blog!....

Ok .. well..... what do i write???

Well, this is my first web'blog', and i am still ought to explore the entire thing... I hope i have lots of fun and hope to cherish the old memories.. when i would view my blogs later!

That was what has exactly happened; much to my joy! My blog serves as a very fine reminder of the good-ol' times and all the good and bad reminder of all events in my life since Feb 2006. I have tried my best to record all my emotions intertwined with a splash of freshness so it is readable and presentable. I have enjoyed my experience so far blogging since 3 years. I would like to thank all my readers, vis-a-vis, friends, who have also been an inspiration to start writing on the web-log.

Now here's a never-before-heard-fact. What motivated me to start blogging? I have always been excited, and tried to explore the possibilities of the internet, and had always wished to have a 'website' of my own which people all over the world can see. It was first when, in 2006, the college magazine team was publicizing our magazine- Musings 06. Part of the publicity was its blog- musings06.blogspot.com. That was the first time I saw a blog, and then I ran my search and research on what a blog was! I took no time to register on blogger.com and there was it- my first blog!

As is the case with any blog, Coffee - Love - Blog - Hangout! has kept evolving over time. Some posts have been spontaneous, while some required thinking. My blog has, many-a-times, served as a vent to my uncontrollable emotions. I used to write a diary, and that has its own speciality. I might have lost my 'diary' handwriting, but blogging has made me keep in touch with myself.

Cheers!

[I wanted to write more, but I wanna keep it sweet n short. Thanks to blogger and all of you for reading. :)]

.

Reliving DDLJ

I love listening to the initial part of the video, which has the DDLJ instrumental- tujhe dekha to ye jaana sanam. Of course, i love the rest of the song too... ahista ahista... Very lively, enlivens your spirit!

Enjoy!

{watch in high quality}

Contains content from Yash Raj Films.

.

That reminds me of something

When was the last time you heard that old song and it reminded you of that lovely moment in your life? When was the last time you did that thing and it reminded you of a special incident of the past? Ain't it funny!

[Sylvan Lake near Rapid City, SD. May 2008]

Our human mind is such a beautiful thing. Our mind (a.k.a. we) remember things by associating it with another event.

It was that smell that reminded me of that moment of my life. It was that 'Boys' song that reminded me of my 1st year in college. It's that 'Bachna Ae Haseeno' song that reminds me of that sad moment of my life. It's that voice that reminds me of that care and nurture that my parents have provided me. It's that old shirt that reminds me of my Intermediate class. It's that old friend's call that reminded me of the fun times we spent in Hyderabad. It's that television series that reminds me of my childhood.

It is so true when someone said, "move on!". I guess, it feels so great to move on, maybe I was so much stuck with my past that I never thought of moving on... But, yes baby, 'life moves on'... Life is so much a thing to nourish and enjoy every bit of. Life's got more meaning now. Life's different, it's changing. Everyday, it's changing.

[Flagstaff, near Phoenix, AZ. December 2007]

So, relish those memories that keep reminding you of things in life, good and bad; but there is so much to the coming day that keeps me so overwhelmingly occupied, that sometimes I think it is better to let go those old memories, and absorb the new things. New is the word.

Get a life!

.

India razes slums, leaves poor homeless

I read the following article on cnn.com. It was very sad to hear this. All this comes to say one thing- there is no prior planning on the part of the Indian Government on issues pertaining to human health, hygiene, city and town planning, and overall human values. It's a shame.

Watch Video:


From CNN Asia:

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Hanso Devi moved to New Delhi from Rajasthan with just one hope -- to make a better life for herself and her family. Hanso Devi says she and her family have nowhere else to go. She, her husband, five children and other relatives erected a hut to live in --- a home that provided shelter and a base for her husband's streetside blacksmith business. The problem is that the land they built on belongs to the government. And the government has decided to take it back.

[Hanso Devi says she and her family have nowhere else to go.]

In a matter of minutes bulldozers level the place, leaving Devi and her family perched on a bed atop a sea of rubble. They have nowhere to go. "They did it so fast that there was no time to take out anything. And the bulldozer broke everything on the way," Devi said. "It's like we were picked up and thrown away," she said. Bulldozers razed the makeshift home and hundreds of others earlier this month as the Indian government moves to improve New Delhi for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

[This 90-year-old woman sits on a bed atop the ruins of her demolished house.]

Officials say the land is for a road and the demolitions are simply part of a master plan to clean up the city and move slum-dwellers to proper housing. But, the government says, there will be no relocation for families like Hanso Devi's because they do not meet relocation requirements. The government says they are squatting too close to the road, and are located in a major development zone. "You see they have encroached on the specific project lengths -- there will be no notice, no relocation projects for them," said New Delhi Mayor Arti Mehra, who says she and the city are worried about those who have been left homeless. About 3 million people live in New Delhi's slums, the government estimates.

Mehra says New Delhi is slated to build 100,000 new apartments, though only 6,800 are under construction. Critics say demolishing housing that has been here for years and relocating some residents but not others will hurt many who live on the margins of society. "They'll be pushed to the brink," said A.K. Roy of the Hazards Centre Sanchal Foundation, a non-governmental organization. "Eventually I think what the planners are doing, they are not realizing they'll be building up a pool of violence."

[At night, familes huddle together around fires to keep warm.]

The people who live in New Delhi's slums are some of the city's maids, drivers, street vendors and day laborers. Roy argues the city could not survive without the services that the slum dwellers provide. The slums may not have looked like much to outsiders, but to families who had lived there for years, they were everything. Their businesses, homes and temples were there. Now they are lost.

Some huts are still standing, for now. Among them is the home of Sheila Naurang Lal, built more than 20 years ago by the family who still lives there. But that is little comfort for Lal as she sees what has happened to the homes a few yards from her house. "I came to the road yesterday after being scared seeing the bulldozer," Lal says. "You must have seen the front part has been broken." It has been two days since the latest slum eradication, but families are still eking out a living amid the ruins.

A mother cooks for her children, a 90-year-old woman with a walker sits on her bed and someone's pet goat is tied up at a shrine, waiting for its owner. Hanso Devi looks around as night falls. She will spend another night in the open with nothing to keep her warm but a small fire. "We are going to sleep right here. There is no place other than this."

.

`Slumdog Millionaire' wins top honor at Globes

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – "Slumdog Millionaire" has lived up to its underdog theme at the Golden Globes, sweeping all four of its categories, including best drama and director for Danny Boyle.

Kate Winslet has won two Globes all on her own, best dramatic actress for "Revolutionary Road" and supporting actress for "The Reader." "The Wrestler" also has two, dramatic actor for Mickey Rourke and best song for Bruce Springsteen.

"Slumdog Millionaire" also won best screenplay and musical score, firming up its prospects for the Academy Awards. Featuring a generally unknown cast in a story set on the streets of Mumbai, "Slumdog Millionaire" knocked off four other nominated films featuring such stars as Brad Pitt, Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Source: Yahoo! News.

.

Happy New Year 2009

It's new year time again, and it's a pleasure to wish you all a very Happy New Year 2009! May this new year bring you all the happiness, love, peace and prosperity you have wanted. God bless everyone.

[Image: comments101.com]

.