sparkymat

He rises…

sparkymat — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:04:24 +0000

“deshi”.. “deshi”..

“basara”.. “basara”..

“deshi”..”deshi”..

“basara”..”basara”..

“deshi”..”deshi”..

“basara”..”basara”..

“deshi”..”deshi”..

“basara”..”basara”..

“deshi deshi basara basara”

tablet!

sparkymat — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 06:50:09 +0000

I picked up an Android tablet recently – the Archos 101 Internet tablet, running Android 2.2. This being my first Android device, had a lot to play around. However, I am starting to reach the limits of my interest in the OS. Waiting for Ubuntu or MeeGo to be “enabled” (since Archos already provides an Angstrom distro to demonstrate how you can put other Linux distros on the tablet).

Cool things:

Excellent e-book reader. Quite light and fairly huge display.
Comic reader! I have always wanted to read comics this way.
Bed/sofa browsing. Relishing the lightweight tablet in lieu of the laptop.

Uncool things:

Battery seems a bit weak (fell to 50% after 3-4 hours of use). Good for a laptop. Not good for a tablet/handheld. Will wait and watch how the 2nd, 3rd charges affect the battery life.
Android. Lot of good apps and widgets, but can’t help feel that a proper Linux distro with GNOME or LXD, would rock better. Or mabye Ubuntu Netbook Edition, with Unity! Waiting for someone to “Enable” it.

The end of an Epoc(h)

sparkymat — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 06:45:04 +0000

After a 3 year long association with the Symbian platform, I have now bid farewell. Though I am now no longer officially associated with Symbian, I plan to remain an ardent follower of the Symbian OS and the course of redemption it has embarked on.

back

sparkymat — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 08:31:26 +0000

I am back. Watch this space.

house in hdr

sparkymat — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:50:35 +0000

House (HDR)

psychopath

sparkymat — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:05:58 +0000

When I was small, I thought a psychopath was someone who was insane (obviously I confused it with psychotic). I still find many people making the same mistake – referring to someone as a ‘psychopath’ when they mean ‘psychotic’. However, psychopaths are not easy to identify, precisely because they are typically endowed with above average intelligence and they ability to make themselves appear normal.

“The Silence of the Lambs” movie introduced me to the true meaning of the term psychopath. I still get chills down my spine whenever I remember those eyes, those piercing eyes that make me want to run far away and hide. Perhaps, the reason psychopaths scare me more than the insane, is that we know that the insane are, well, insane. They are not thinking straight. However, not only is a psychopath thinking straight, he is quite intelligent too. He is hiding. He is hiding behind a facade of feigned politness and emotions. Where the insane is not thinking straight, the psychopath is cunning and manipulative, pretending to be normal, biding his time.

I still remember my heart skipping a beat and a slow panic build up, when Valerie’s expression changes and she admits she’s a psychopath (in Remorse, an episode of House). The scariest villains are not the raving lunatics, who scream at you, threatening to pull your entrails out and wrap it around your neck. The scariest villains are the ones we don’t even perceive as villains, the ones who manipulate us into thinking they are the good guys, while framing others for their crimes.

Movies/books/shows I need to check out (having read about psychopathy):

American Psycho
Se7en
Dexter
A Clockwork Orange
The Kite Runner

adventure park

sparkymat — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 04:36:06 +0000

Adventure park. One of my favourite places to go, when I was a kid. Though designed more like a training course at a boot camp, the place still fascinated and enthrilled me, my brother and my cousins. Later, it fell into disrepute and ill-use. Yesterday, I visited it again, after almost 15 or 20 years. Glad to see that the place is maintained decently (more or less). Have taken some pics. Posting them below (click on the images for the bigger version).

Trivia: The climax of the movie “Manu Uncle” was shot here.

The entrance to Adventure Park

The skating rink!

The tunnels! We used to have races through these.

The rope wall (or its remains, to be accurate)

The jumper (:P) . There was a rope ladder behind this to climb up and then jump down to each level.

The mangroves that border the park

Sigh.. Adventure Park..

blog moved

sparkymat — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 04:11:10 +0000

I have moved the blog to http://www.sparkymat.net .

kireedom

sparkymat — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:58:53 +0000

For a change, they are playing a good movie on the bus. Kireedom (‘Crown’ in Malayalam) is one of my favourite movies of all times. Both Mohanlal and Thilakan are scintilating in this movie. Sadly, the sequel was disappointing.

Some of my favourite Malayalam movies are: Nadodikaattu, Manichithrathazhu, Kireedom, Nokketha Doorathu Kannum Nattu. Is it a coincidence that all of them are Lalettan movies?

india and child prodigies

sparkymat — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:46:14 +0000

India has always had a fascination with child prodigies. Child prodigies are “discovered” in India with surprising regularity. Yet, our country is still languishing in the shallow end of the innovation pool. Every time a child prodigy is “found”, the news is spattered all over the media, people rush to recognize and honour him/her, and a week later, life is back to where it always was. Matters have become so bad, that we have some taking advantage of this (the Tathagat Avtar Tulsi – DST affair, though his recent appointment as IIT professor confuses me).

Child prodigies are typically noted for achieving in their childhood, that which others take longer to achieve (we often hear of child prodigies becoming doctors, research fellows, animators, etc.). Everyone rushes to congratulate them, shower them with awards and possibly grants, and then, they are forgotten except by their social circle (or bloggers researching them to write such articles). Why are they not nurtured into true geniuses who can help forge a better tomorrow? Is India incapable of such support? If it is, where are the successful scientists and mathematicians who were discovered as child prodigies?

A quick scan on the net showed ONE child prodigy who has grown up into an adult prodigy, and that too, in the last century. Of course, I am talking about Srinivasa Ramanujan, a child prodigy who had gone beyond what many adults had achieved (discovering theorems when he was still 12) and who went on to contribute significant advancements to mathematics. From what the media proclaims, India has never had a dearth of geniuses. Then, why are we no longer competitive with the rest of the world? Where are the geniuses?