Vivek's Blog

My world, My views

Archive for category Updates

Where would you go tied up to a lasso?

Jul 21

Posted by Vivek in General, Updates | 3 Comments

Yes, now that my blog is back from the world of the dead, I’m calling on all five of my readers to join me saying a solemn w00t.

For a while, I dithered about wondering if I should dump my hosting and move to tumblr or wordpress.com. However, I decided that the kind of control afforded by your own webspace is not available elsewhere and I didn’t want to undo all the work done in the past 4 years. Hence, I now present to you, v5.0 of Vivek’s Blog.

After a long time, I’ve found a theme I love out of the box and apart from minor color-related changes, this theme has not been modified from the original. Arclite, my current theme, also uses CSS3 webfonts (Firefox 3.1+, Safari 3.1+, and Opera 10+ only) which means I can place fonts in my theme folder and it will render them on the fly, regardless of whether or not you have them installed on your local machine.

Take some time to look around – the pages have been modified and updated from their older versions. While the dual-sidebar has some info, don’t forget the footer which also houses widgets for Meta, Recent Comments, and Pages for your convenience. A few more color modifications could be forthcoming, but as of right now, I think I’m happy with the look.

Also, I assure you that posts will keep flowing from now on. Not on a crazy daily basis like last year, but more than what it has been this year. Also, my Twitter account is updated far more often then my blog is, so feel free to follow me: http://www.twitter.com/ElectricTool.

**UPDATE: I’m afraid I prematurely shot my wad on what was supposed to be a dry run, if you will, so now I’m afraid I have something of a mess on my hands.**

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Updates Orgy

Jan 30

Posted by Vivek in Education, General, Technology, Updates | 4 Comments

I really should blog more often, especially since I have Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays off this semester. Oh well. I think I’m going to have to be brief here, but the following lines will catch you up on what I’ve been doing (and what has happened to me) since I left India.

I now have a twitter account. Follow me here.  I attempt to update at least twice a day (which is about 100x more often than my blog, har har).  I’m going to try and add my twitter feed to the blog soon.

This post is coming from Firefox 3.0.5 running on Windows 7 Ultimate (beta).  I’ve been using the 64bit beta on and off for the past two weeks now, and I like it.  The interface changes are good and I’m happy that they finally put in shortcuts to minimize and maximize windows.  ArsTechnica did a great article on the beta, so you might want to read that for the skinny on Windows 7.  So far, the only thing to not work: abc.com’s video player.

Last Friday, I received a call from Northwestern University.  After introducing himself, the nice guy at the other end said I’d been recommended to the Ph.D. program in Materials Science.  After staring into space, wondering what that meant, and subsequently collecting my jaw from the floor, I said, “oh, that’s great” and proceeded to mumble through the rest of the phone call.  Following that shocker, I received word from MIT and Stanford this Wednesday, congratulating me on being accepted.  Thus far, only Northwestern has told me how much financial aid I’ll get, but to get into three out of my top four choices has left me excited, delighted, shocked, and <insert adjective describing joy>.  It also means that I have a tough decision to make, but thankfully, the scheduling works out so that I can visit all three places in the coming months.  I’m hoping that the visits convincingly swing my decision one way, since April 15 is not that far away.

I just spent several hours of this week working on a solar module donation request to BP Solar.  If we get the solar panels, we (Columbia University Engineers Without Borders) hope to set up a health center in Melghat, India that will house a vaccine fridge, indoor bulbs, and outdoor lights all running off the panels.  Considering that our budget for all the equipment other than the panels is about as much as the panels would cost, we’re really hoping to get the donation.  It would be a major achievement, and something to brag about in our résumés.

Man, all this writing has made me hungry.  I should go get some food before BATTLESTAR GALACTICA at 10.  Peace out.

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61 Days

Dec 18

Posted by Vivek in General, Updates | 1 Comment

It has been so long since my last blog entry that I don’t even know where to begin.  The period in between has been nothing short of eventful, but now that the semester is done for, I can finally attempt to regain my sanity (and catch up on sleep) over the next few days.

Let’s get the boring details out of the way first.  I finished all my graduate school applications last week, and it’s now up to my recommenders to submit their recommendations on time.  Then, it’s a painful waiting game until the decisions start rolling in early March.  Also, since I very nearly killed myself with a heavy workload this semester, my schedule for next semester allows me to take classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays only, leaving every other day wide open.  Yeah.

So, I ended up buying the ASUS G50V-A2.  Yes, it’s slightly bigger than the average 15.4″, but I think the positives definitely outweigh the negatives.  The orange color is actually not bad, and the laptop color scheme reminds me of Half Life 2, one of my favorite FPSes ever.  The display is gorgeous, and I’m loving all the expansion ports and 400GB of hard drive space.  Gaming so far has been a delight, with the laptop running UT3 and Left 4 Dead at 1680×1050 without hassle.  And yes, it can play Crysis – I tried out the demo.  Over the winter break, I plan to finally play Half Life 2 Episodes 1 and 2 and Portal, along with Bioshock.  Lest I forget, this was the G50V model with a Blu-ray drive, and ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that The Dark Knight on Blu-ray is an orgasmic experience, even if I don’t have a 1080p-capable display.

I’m flying back on the 20th, and should arrive in Delhi on the 21st at night, barring any delays.  For a change, I am not going to promise a flurry of articles over the break.  I need some goddamn sleep.

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Waiting – Phase Three

Sep 25

Posted by Vivek in General, Technology, Updates | 2 Comments

So this is it, folks.  This is the final phase of waiting and also the appropriate time for me to reveal what this waiting game is all about.  You see, a little over a week ago, I ordered a new laptop from Dell, thus ending a long and frustrating wait.  Since it was looking like Montevina-based Dell consumer laptops were a few months away (!), I went with a business laptop from them.  So, this is what I got:

Dell Precision M4400

Core 2 Duo T9400 2.53GHz/6MB L2/1066MHz FSB on Intel Montevina chipset
2GB DDR2-800 RAM (will upgrade in the near future)
250GB 7200rpm SATA HDD w/ Free Fall Sensor
15.4″ WXGA+ 1440×900 LED-backlit display
Nvidia Quadro FX 770M 512MB graphics (workstation equivalent of 9600M GT)
Intel WiFi Link 5300 a/g/n card + Gigabit Ethernet
Windows XP Pro SP3 Installed with Vista Business Install Disc

Other things:

Backlit keyboard, 6-cell battery, DVD burner, 3-year warranty, Bluetooth, Usual assortment of ports and things

I left out the fingerprint reader and webcam to save money and also because I already have a nice/compact webcam and didn’t think I would need a fingerprint reader. I could be proven wrong! :)

It shipped out today and has an estimated delivery date of September 29, 2008. My original shipping date was September 30, so they’re actually 5 days ahead of schedule. I’ll do some unboxing shots and maybe a video next week. A more detailed review will follow. Oh, and before I forget, this is what the laptop looks like (arrows not part of laptop :P ):

This one uses the 9-cell battery that sticks out - the 6-cell is flush with the casing.

This one uses the 9-cell battery that sticks out - the 6-cell is flush with the casing.

Front view of the laptop.

Front view of the laptop.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you v4 of Vivek’s Blog

Aug 26

Posted by Vivek in General, Updates | 4 Comments

Yes, it’s finally here.  After numerous empty promises and delays, I have activated a new theme as default on my blog.  This is a modified version of the Night Whimsy theme by Terea Jones – I kept the same basic layout and structure but changed the header, footer, background pattern, and colors used in text and links.  If you’re wondering how in the blazes I made that header image, then look no further than Apophysis, a free fractal renderer.  I goof around with it every once in a while and usually do random things until I get something that I like.  I played around with an automatically generated fractal in Apo to come up with the header.  I then used Photoshop to create the blue bars, logo text, etc. to make it complete.  A special shout out to Rohit who helped me code the “hover” effect on the top navigation bar and to those that shared their opinions on the header design – I can’t remember whom I asked since it was so fucking long ago.

I’ve removed all other themes save for this one and my previous default.  This theme is not 100% complete, but enough for me to feel safe in unleashing it on my dear readers.  I will tweak some things here and there and maybe add a Flickr stream in the sidebar, or some adverts.  You’ll see the changes as I make them.  So, like I had said before, I HAVE released a new theme before the summer slips away.  Pretty close, eh?  Leave suggestions, criticisms, and whatnots in the comments.

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