No seriously, how is your life today? I hope it’s good. If it’s not good and the reason for is that you’re tearing your hair out trying to figure out why I haven’t updated my blog recently, then have I got some news for you!

I’ve been working on a new (GASP!!) website. No, it doesn’t mean that updates will be even fewer. It just means that I’m responsible for managing a new site. If you want to know what this website is and where it’s located, point your browser to:

http://www.cuewb.org/india-wiki/tiki-index.php

It’s a wiki for a non-profit group on campus that I work with. Of course, it’s new and hardly complete but as with any wiki, we are constantly adding information to it.

In other personal news, I finally caved-in and bought myself a black N95-3. It’s a swell phone and the WiFi is awesome! Expect a short review soon.

Ok, I was just kidding. With Mobile World Congress starting on Monday, did you really think I’d risk a phone purchase right now? If you did, then you need to, umm, you know, do something. I just can’t figure out what right now. Now let me get back to making beautiful plots in MATLAB.

Hello folks! I got back to the US on Monday and have started classes already. Getting used to the new schedule will take a week or two as will getting back into the habit of doing work. But I’d rather not bore you with my education when I can entertain you with stories from my flight here.

Delhi airport is a mess right now. It has always been super-crowded but since they started renovating it, the mess is terrible. However, the good news is that the parts that are done look fantastic. Hopefully they can get it done soon. Check-in was a breeze but security took forever due to the limited, makeshift booths that have been set up during renovation. By comparison, the security check-in at Frankfurt went smooth.

The flight to Frankfurt was largely uneventful. The flight was not late. It was supposed to leave at 3:05am and we got going around 3:10am. However, we got into Frankfurt a few minutes after the due time because of traffic at Fraport. The flight to New York, however, was delayed by nearly an hour. Take a guess as to why it was delayed.

No idea? Try this on for size: there were too many aircraft in the British airspace and we were asked to leave half an hour late. Add that to the regular 20-30-minute delay in take-off from Fraport and you get a net delay that was too much for the pilots to overcome completely. We landed at 1:15pm, half an hour late and immediately ran into what looked like 500 more people waiting to clear immigration. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that getting past immigration took ages - two and a half hours to be precise. I got back to my dorm at 5pm. Amazing.

I was half-expecting to not find my luggage after all the delays I had already faced. Thankfully, that did not happen and I was able to easily locate my checked-in luggage. But I did have to wait a long time before getting a cab. It was freezing and I was probably under-dressed for the weather. It’s freaking cold here.

So that’s about it for now. Stay tuned because there’s more to come very soon.

So boys and girls, I travel back to the US tomorrow, i.e., Sunday night/Monday morning.  Hopefully the weather will play nice and I can get back on time.  I need to get back on time so that I get enough sleep before a 9:30am lab the next day.  I’m not sure when I’ll be heading back to India next.  I might be back for a month in the summer otherwise, I’ll be back in December as usual.

I probably made a big deal of how many blog posts I was going to write during the break.  I had more than the paltry four I’ve managed but I didn’t like the way they were turning out.  In case you’re interested, they were on the music I listen to.  Maybe if I feel the need to express my thoughts on my favorite music, I’ll finish and post the drafts I have.

For those looking forward to what happens next in my eternal quest to find the perfect cell phone, I have some news.  The N95-3 is finally within my budget and I’m looking forward to purchasing it soon.  Not very soon though.  The Mobile World Congress is from February 11-14 and I’m sure we’ll see some new phones being announced by all manufacturers there.  If none of the new ones appeal to me enough, N95-3, here I come!

So, until my next post, adios!  Stay safe.  Peace the frak out.

Yes, I’m back home.  Yes, I got back alright.  Yes, I have half a dozen posts in my head right now.  Yes, power outages are still a pain.

Seriously, I haven’t gotten more than half an hour out of any internet session so far.  When I do, you can expect more posts.

I know I haven’t delivered on promises made to people about blog updates but that will change in the next week. I’m flying back home tomorrow and will be in Delhi on Christmas day. I’ll have a little under a month to unwind and get ready for another grueling semester at Columbia. Time sure flies, doesn’t it?

I’ve been getting back into playing UT2004 again. I usually don’t play online because I’m no good compared to the guys who have hours upon hours of experience. I play sporadically and something usually comes along to get me away from the game just when I start to become good at it. The bots are decent and the several levels of difficulty scale well. The variety of gametypes and maps is just fantastic and I feel UT2004 is one of the best FPSes ever, even if it doesn’t have a real single-player campaign. I’m itching to play UT3 but my system can’t handle it. I’ve heard it’s good too.

Anyway, I’ll be back with a post after I get back next week. I have a lot of post ideas and I will most definitely use them in the next few weeks. Happy Holidays!

P.S.: If you see extra themes in the selector, it’s just me messing around. They might not have the theme switcher so you will not be able to switch back!