16 Oct 2007
Night on the Royal Highway or El Camino Real (ell-ka-mi-no-rree-yal)
It was about 10:30 in the night. I was about to park my car inside our garage,
then the cool October night with a crescent moon tempted me to continue riding down the empty street.
El Camino Real or 'The Royal Highway' is only a furlong away from our house.
At night, while most of the shops were closed with lights off, few restaurants were still open.
There were people cleaning the footpaths and picking garbage like zombies; homeless people
pushing shopping carts in search of a place to sleep.
As a kid I had a BMX bicycle. While it was fun riding something that looked
like a miniature motorcycle, I never had thought that some people could be using them to commute to work.
All long the road there were many peddling down the footpath on a BMX bicycle.
Some may have been riding it for miles from affluent parts of the bay area towards slums.
Life on the The Royal Highway at night didn't look as cheerful and colorful as it looks during the day
when car showrooms sport balloons and real estate agents wiggle signboards like clowns.
Link |
05 Aug 2007
iPhone and The Dog That can do Many Tricks
Saw an iPhone in an apple store in San Jose. There was a small crowd
gathered around it. I had to wait for my turn to examine this wonder
gadget that is making news, or made news, since the hype has subsided.
iPhone seems like just one centimeter away from my vision of an All-in-one card.
Many other smart phones in the market today are also that close. My an year old Linux phone Motorola MING, though lacked wifi, seems to
have everything iPhone has hardware-wise. Interface on iPhone is much better, though navigation is confusing at times. iPhone is like a dog which can do many tricks, but crippled because the owner wanted to sell a wheel chair service plan with it :-(
Mobile communication industry in USA lags behind rest of the world by
years - limited choice, lack of competition, poor coverage, legacy
protocols and services like SMS and mutimedia, still seen as
premium features!!. I am hoping that iPhone and immitations would bring changes.
Link |
21 Mar 2007
Up the Raisina Hill
Rashtrapati Bhavan (Presidential Palace) in New Delhi, is majestic and grand - a building fit for the President of a wast country.
We entered through one of the side gates. Unprecedented Presidential security welcomed us! It is not open to public, entry is by invitation only.
There is a gradual ramp that raises to the main building. We got down the car near to reception which is on the left of the grand stairs.
Several guards in Ghoorka attire were guarding the main building. We got in, wrote our names in the visitor book, checked in our bags and gadgets at the cloak room. A tour guide in dark blue Nehru suit accompanied us on a guided tour of the various halls and Mughal Gardens.
We entered a corridor which on one end opened up to left wing courtyard. The courtyard had a water fountain guarded by two snakes on high pillars.
Next we entered the Marble hall, which houses relics of British rule in India, portraits and statues of Kings, Queens and Viceroys. Benches with four lions as its legs were impressive. Down stairs is the kitchen museum with exquisite crockery collection. I was impressed with the dining table which harmoniously blended through the architecture - circular arches, lotus curves and bells.
Next we climbed to the first floor towards a room that displayed gifts received by Indian Presidents over years. On the stairs in a plaster of Paris statue of thousand handed Buddha
gifted by Thailand. The room displays valuable gifts not just made with gold and diamonds, but also quite ordinary looking but important things like a soiled Tricolor flag that was hoisted on top of Mt Everest when Tensingh and Hillary climbed it for the first time.
Then we entered the grand Durbar hall, immediately below the dome. On the stage stood ancient statue of Lord Budhdha, like the epicenter of ancient wisdom, modern thought - light of Asia. Behind the statue was an elaborate crimson curtain.
Next was the Banquet Hall with life size portraits of past Presidents. On one end of the hall was an impressive portrait of Mahatma Gandhi with kites flying behind him. Gandhi had a naughty smile :-). Out of the window you could peek down to Mughal gardens.
Ashoka Hall is the most beautiful hall in the building. On its ceiling is a large and amusing picture of Emperor of Iran hunting with his 28 sons.
After Ashoka hall, we entered a courtyard, with an Edward Luytens' bust overlooked his own building.
Lueytens apparently also designed almost everything inside, furniture, door handles and lamps. Most furniture designs, lamps, crockery and even door handles are beautiful and wish there were replicated and available commercially.
Finally we were in Mughal Gardens with stepped fountains. There were beautiful bonsais of various kind. A kind of tiny orange tree full of tiny oranges adorned the sides of walkways. That was the end of our journey through India's past and present. We then got our stuff and walked out of reception desk towards the main entrance to take pictures of the huge and majestic building. We walked on the same grounds where foreign heads of state receive guard of honor from armed forces.
I have seen this place on TV news countless times, never did I imagine I would take a casual afternoon walk there!
From there the Jaipur Pillar stood high up, while the main gate was clouded in morning mist.
We then proceeded to exit from front gate. Encountered massive pillars with gracefully standing elephants over them. We then walked down the Raisina Hill past ministerial offices and pillars which had ships on top pointing to Australia.
More Photos ...
Link |
09 Oct 2006
Kennedy Meadows and Sonora Pass
A beautiful glacier carved valley, Kennedy Meadows is near Sonora Pass on highway-108.
Last Friday night, we (an eight member trekking team from Stanford Outing Club) camped in Pine Crest campgrounds off highway 108. Temperature had reached subzero levels during night, and we could see ice formation on stagnant water. In the morning, mist was fuming out of a small lake next to the campgrounds - it was mystical!
On Saturday morning we found that Sonora Pass was closed due to slippery snow covered road. We turned back towards Kennedy Meadows. A small horse friendly resort camp, while far from the touristy Yosemite, reminded of the Yosemite Valley. An elderly gentleman on a bicycle recommended a hiking trail going south east on the meadows.
The trail frequented by horses had horse dung sprewn all the way. The unpaved trail with rough rocks on side had and smell of horse excreta created an old world aura. Imagine how it might have been when horses empowered travel and transportation.
Two foot bridges on the trail crossed the hilly Stanislaus River. High above our heads hovered snow topped mountains - Relief Peak (10530ft) and NightCap Mountain (10,000ft)
On the way out of nowhere appeared a totally closed PG&E cabin (can be seen on
google map). It was picturesque. We stopped on top a boulder peak, which had mountains on all three sides and valley of Stanislaus river on the West. When we returned to the basecamp, the same gentleman was there to enquire if we enjoyed our hike - we certainly did.
Sunday we stopped at New Melones Lake near Tuttletown for a short hike. After having lunch at the lake shore picnic area, headed back home.
More pictures,
Saurabh's Pictures,
Sumanth's Pictures
Link |
12 Jun 2006
Top Edge Monks for GNOME Desktop
Here is a background image, inspired by a Svetoslav Roerich (a Russian born who lived near Bangalore) painting
http://art.gnome.org/backgrounds/gnome/1814
What have Top Edge Monks to do with GNOME Desktop?
Link |
28 May 2006
Bed Office
When ever I am working from home, I would be working mostly from bed,
holding the laptop with left hand while right hand types. That certainly is poor ergonomics and bad for both my wrists and my coding speed.
Searched local stores for any furniture suitable for fixing or holding the laptop on bed. Couldn't find any. So decided to build one for myself.
Necessity is the mother of invention. Initially thought, I can cut and nail wooden planks together, and went hunting for wooden strips to a nearby
hardware shop. I surveyed the whole shop looking items that could be helpful. Whoa! found more than what I expected - plastic PVC plumbing material! There were pipes of various lengths, joints and more... Bought 1/2" diameter PVC pipe and 4 joints - two 130 degree, and one 90 degree corner piece, all for under 5 American dollars. This is so much better and easy than cutting wood with hack-saws and trying to nail it!
I picked the parts I wanted (see the design above) and assembled the frame on the shop floor. The old salesman was looking at this weird plumber with confusion.
I now had a lightweight solid frame that was strong and stable enough to support the laptop, but it wasn't finished. I needed some way to hang the laptop to the frame so that it is held firm. I bought a L cross-section plastic strip and tried clamping it to the pipes, but wasn't strong enough to hold the laptop. Thought of getting treadmill book holders, but couldn't find them in any nearby shops.
Corrugated cardboard is another strong material. I stapled one across the central pipe and pasted a supporting strip towards the bottom end of the corrugated sheet. Thats it! My Ferrari laptop is now firmly held between the angle of the corrugated sheet. It forms a triangle - triangles are the strongest polygons. Much of its weight is transmitted by the frame. My stomach which used to take much of the weight is more free. Both my hands are free! What more, my laptop bed holder with its creamy white PVC pipes looks like a space age instrument!
Link |
Copyright (cc) 2004-2006 by Chandan
