Computer Gender!!!

Have you ever wondered whether your Computer is male or female?

Now here's a simple trick to find out just that!
Don't believe me?
-
-
....Still skeptical?

Come on... Now here's the trick to check whether your computer is "male" or "female" :

1. Open your computer's NOTEPAD.
2. Type the following line in the NOTEPAD
• CreateObject("SAPI.SpVoice").Speak"I love you"
3. Save file as computer_gender.vbs
4. Run the file
• If you hear a male voice, your computer is a "Boy"
• If you hear a female voice, your computer is a "Girl"

NOTE : Don't forget to turn ON your SPEAKERS before running the file.

Well, Good Luck!!!  Comment below and share your results :) 

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Rक्षण : India vs India

With the movie, "Aarakshan" (Hindi: आरक्षण, translation: Reservation), finally releasing this Friday (12th August, 2011), the controversy regarding Reservations has got fresh air. Whether or not Reservations are necessary, it is very sad to note that this controversy has divided the country the same way the Britishers did on religious lines few decades ago. Ironically, this has come at a time when we are celebrating our Nation's 65th Independence Day. Well, if this continues as such, it would take away the happiness out of our "Happy" Independence Day!


To set the record straight, I WAS among those who were against Reservations until a few days ago but I am NOT among the Pro-Reservations as well. Here's why the change in point of view :


Well, earlier I was of the opinion that Reservations don't actually benefit those who get it, rather it degrades the quality/standard of the institutions reserving seats by bringing about mediocrity in education. I believed Merit should be the only criteria and no reservations should be provided. I wasn't against backward classes but I felt that only the creamy layer benefited from the Reservations. So, there was no point having reservations. The major problem with Reservations is that it reduces the chances of the non-reserved students of pursuing education in a good institute even if they are "deserving" or "meritorious".


I won't say that I've flipped 180 degrees from my earlier stand and have become a Pro-Reservation activist. But over the past few days, I tried to have a look at the other side of the picture. And guess what? It wasn't good either. The fact is caste system is a social reality and we, all, are casteists in a way or the other and we can't deny this fact. The "backward" classes are backward only because they have never been given any opportunity to stand up. Sadly, even the "uplifted" or "well-to-do" sections of the society haven't done anything for them. Have YOU done anything for their upliftment? Forget about doing, have you ever, even cared about their upliftment? The answer is a obvious "HELLL NOOO" (and sadly, this includes me as well). The problem is a lack of sensitivity towards the problems of the backward classes. We talk about "equality" during admissions in schools and colleges but what about equality in society? At a personal level, I haven't actually seen anyone being discriminated against (and many of you even might not have seen any such thing) but that doesn't mean discrimination doesn't happen. Go through the newspapers and every now and then, you'll see stories of atrocities against the backward classes committed by the upper classes. Not just in rural areas (where it is as clearly visible as the sun on a sunny day) but also in cities.... even in the Capital of our country [ See the NDTV story on Caste-War  in AIIMS and the Tehelka report as well. Recently even The Times Of India covered a story on how dalits are being discriminated against in IITs and IIMs, and how this is leading to suicides ]. Even the people from the creamy layer of backward classes are subjected to such discrimination. Under these circumstances, getting an 80% for a student of the backward community is as difficult as a 90% for the general category. We, only have to focus on our studies but the students from backward classes need to take care of other issues as well.


But is Reservation the solution to all the problems?  


Well, I'm not so sure about it. In fact, Reservations have kind of widened the gap between the different sections of society and the news links I've mentioned earlier are a proof of that. I am not sure how far Reservation is going to help them, but the truth is the people from backward classes do deserve additional opportunities to keep up with the rest. Not only the people from backward classes, but also people from economically backward classes   should be given extra opportunities.


I have been unable to think of a solution that allows the upliftment of the backward sections of the society as well as allows the academically strong students to pursue education in an institute of their choice. You may say that needs setting up of lots of new IITs, IIMs and increasing seats in colleges.... but that won't happen overnight! 
We need a solution now and it should actually work. If you can think of any such solution, please share.....

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A billion people... just one dream!!! Ye Cup Humara Hai!!!

What a match! What a match!!! Still can't believe it..... Yes, we did it... We've finally achieved what we had set out for. Yes, the cup is ours now!!!

It's been 28 years since India lifted the World Cup Trophy in 1983 at Lord's. 28 long years of waiting finally comes to an end tonight. In the euphoric atmosphere of the Wankhede Stadium India won the 10th World Cup final by four wickets with 10 balls to spare. And the winning runs came off the bat of Captain Cool Mahendra Singh Dhoni who hit a blistering six to take India home.

Although Team India started off as favourites leading to the world cup, they had their share of hiccups before getting into the finals. First the tie against England and then the loss to South Africa gave a strong blow to India's world cup winning hopes. But India recovered quickly and they defeated Australia and Pakistan convincingly in the quarter and semi final respectively.

Today's game was huge. It's a proud moment for each of us. It's been an emotional moment for all of us especially since it was the last World Cup for Sachin and Murali ... two of the greatest players the game has ever produced.

The win was scripted in the first powerplay of the match itself. Zaheer bowled on a superb line and length in the opening spell making it almost impossible for the Lankans to score against him. At the end of the first powerplay his figures were 5 overs 3 maidens 6 runs with 1 wicket (of Tharanga). No surprise then him being the highest wicket tacker in the tournament. Yuvi and Bhajji followed suit taking wickets at regular intervals. Only Mahela put up a brave show. Had he not played that wonderful knock, Indians would have won the match rather easily. Mahela along with Kulasekara and later Perera hit some lusty blows in the batting powerplay to help Lanka post a decent total of 274.

When the Indians came out to bat, I was really nervous and I guess even Sachin and Sehwag were a little anxious. After all, the responsibility of getting those runs now rests on their shoulders. Sadly, India got off to the worst start imaginable. Sehwag got out in just the second ball of the innings. the 40 odd thousand people in the stadium went completely silent. Few minutes later, the man himself Sachin Tendulkar departed. Everyone was in a state of shock. I was so disappointed that I just turned off the TV. I just can't see India lose yet another World Cup final. I tried to calm myself down. After a while, I switched on the TV. My first reaction was ...Thank God, the match isn't over yet. Then my eyes shifted to the scorecard and it read 178-3 and I was literally over the moon then 'cause I knew now it would be impossible for the Lankans to stop India. The Lankans had lost the plot. After getting to a perfect start, they failed to capitalize on the situation and now India would make them pay for it. There was a minor hiccup when Gambhir got out but we still had our Captain Cool at the crease and he was joined by the Man of the Tournament Yuvi. And the path was set for the inevitable to happen. What a way to finish the game! Dhoni hit a powerful six right into the stands and with it India sealed the match. It was Sangakarra who won the toss but Dhoni had the last laugh.

The scenes in the stadium were just incredible. I had held my emotions for a long time but when I saw Yuvi, Bhajji, Dhoni, Sachin and Zak with moist eyes, tears of joy rolled down from my eyes as well. Sounds of crackers and fireworks could be heard in my neighborhood. Soon, the streets were flocked with thousands of people. People came in cars and bikes... singing songs and waving the tricolour... What a proud moment it was! Really blessed to be an Indian.

Yuvi can barely hide his emotions!!!

I wasn't born when India achieved its independence... neither were my parents but when India lifted the cup... when people flocked the streets with the Indian flag in their hands ...when people from different communites, from different walks of life gathered together... distributing sweets and celebrating together... I could feel what it would have been like when we got our independence... I know you might think the camparison is just too exaggerated but just look at the way cricket has united all of us... and you'll know why I said so.

Lastly I would like to say Thank You Team India. Thank you Gary ....Thanks to all the support staff and selectors and thanks to everyone associated with Team India who have helped India achieve this feat. A special thanks to the little master Sachin Tendulkar and Muralidharan ...what wonderful ambassadors of cricket they are!!!

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Bollywood films releasing in 2011

So here's the List of Bollywood Films releasing in 2011. Take your pick!

Jan 7:

1. No One Killed Jessica

2. Impatient Vivek

3. Yeh Faasley

Jan 14:

4. Yamla Pagla Deewana

5. Turning 30!!!

6. Hostel

Jan 21:

7. Dhobi Ghat

Jan 28:

8. Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji

Feb 4:

9. Yeh Saali Zindagi

10. Run Bhola Run

Feb 11:

11. Patiala House

Feb 18 :

12. 7 Khoon Maaf

Feb 25:

13. Tanu Weds Manu

March 18:

14. Game

April 8:

15. Thank You

April 15:

16. Haunted

April 22:

17. Dum Maro Dum

May 27:

18. Ready

19. Rockstar

June:

20. Ra. One

July:

21. Mausam

August 31:

22. My Love Story

Dec 23:

23. Don 2 – The Chase Continues

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IWT : WTF!!

Imagine a maths exam paper where you don't get maths problems; instead, you get theory questions like "what is maths?"
How would you feel when you've studied all night long... solving the most difficult, trickiest, weirdest problems so that you score the maximum in your exam??? Feel cheated??

 ....Well I've got a similar kind of feeling for today's IWT paper. For those who are not aware of what it is, IWT (Internet and Web Technologies) is a 3 credit subject for Computer Science and IT students studying under BPUT (Biju Patnaik University of Technology).
So how were the questions?
Irrelevant, illogical and some of them even out of syllabus. I can understand when some one sets questions that are irrelevant or illogical... that happens when you get a hangover. But what really irritates me is that when BPUT has got such an exhaustive syllabus (In terms of no. of pages of course material, it can be any where between 500-3000 pages depending on the books you choose to study), why is there a need to set questions outside the syllabus? What was the question on Java for? What.. is BPUT trying to test our patience? Or trying to mock at the students? Well then  people at BPUT should be happy, 'cause at least I've certainly run out of patience and I can't take it any more!!!

And on top of that, as I've said earlier, the question paper had some really irrelevant questions to harass the students. What is the need of setting a question like "On what factors does the overall cost of setting a website depend on?" Before the exams, I thought we were supposed to be having a technical paper. After seeing such questions, I am having second thoughts about it now.

You can't really say that there was any question on programming as such. Just 2 questions, which were in fact part of a long question. So, both the questions won't even add up to 10 marks. Compare it to previous years papers, last year there were programming questions of about 40 marks which is justified. Even the 2 programming questions were like asking you to tell the answer of 2+2 when you've studied complex algebra all night long. Are they kidding?

People always have problems with difficult question papers. Personally, I never really had any problem with difficult questions as long as they were relevant and within the syllabus (even if I am not able to answer them but at least they should be within the course). Preparing such questions spoils the fun of exams. This will certainly demoralize everyone. I mean why should anyone care about studying and prepare for exams when they know that ultimately they'll get questions about topics they had never heard of. I really loved this subject and enjoyed studying it. And that is why it hurts so much when you get such a question paper. I'm feeling completely cheated, dejected, totally let down by BPUT. In fact, BPUT, itself, is putting its credibility as a good University (just University, it was never good) at stake by setting such question papers. God save BPUT!!!

BPUT SUCKS!!!!

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The Social Network [Khatti]

The Social Network [Khatti]

The latest social networking site on the block is www.khatti.co.tv

Well,”Khatti ”, in Oriya, means gossip but, actually, this site provides room for more than just gossiping.

Share, Show and Socialize is the mantra for this social networking website. The features provided on this site dwell on these three keywords.

Let’s have a look at some of its features:

• “Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” This website has a simple and user-friendly interface. Basically, user interface describes the way people interact with a site and the way users can access its functions. In fact, usability is a byproduct of a good user interface and it determines how easily a user can perform all of the functions provided by the site. Usability is a crucial part of every design, especially on websites with a large amount of functions and users. And this website provides it all.

• Signing up on Khatti is easy and it takes less than 60 seconds to sign up.

• You can create and customize a profile with certain content such as name, location, interests, website links, and more.

• Share your views, opinions, story, and success with the Khatti community.

• You can upload you own personal image or any other “avatar” to represent you on Khatti .

• Socializing is easy on Khatti . You can communicate with text-based comments. Khatti allows you to communicate with friends either by private message correspondence as well as public message board-like posts.

• You can stay in touch with contacts, reach out to new people, and show theKhatti community what you really are!

• You can browse and search for people with similar interests and add them as friends.

• Khatti provides you with a secure social networking experience. You can restrict the access of your personal content through the privacy setting options. Moreover, there is no problem of infringement of security due to third part apps like that on Facebook. Recently, there have been reports of extraction of user information by third party apps on Facebook for their commercial interests.

• Real-Time Updates delivers updates as soon as they are submitted within the application.

• Inviting friends on Khatti is easy. Just enter your friends’ email ids and submit the invitation along with a personal note (which is, of course, optional).

• Khatti has a good and functional search feature as well.

• Khatti has a subtle visual separation of elements that makes the layout more scannable thereby making it more user- friendly.

• TinyMCE™ editor allows you to edit your blog posts with ease.

• You can also upload your own music on Khatti .

• Facebook type chat feature is also available.

Khatti is designed to allow members to connect and communicate with one another and therefore, its features foster interaction, activity, and of course, community.

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Back Again... finally

It's been a long time since I made my last post.
...My blog's been totally neglected ...yet I've managed to get a decent number of visitors visiting my blog everyday. Thanks to all my blog readers. A lot of things have changed since my last post ...my Indirank has slipped from 79 to 42 ...although my Facebook fans have gone upto 117.

Well, I'm currently into my final year of engineering and I had never expected that final year would get so hectic .....some of the extra load of work though, is just because of me... Attending classes, doing my project work and simultaneously preparing for CAT had taken a toll on me and the result was that I could not devote any time to my blog.

Being the mentor of the students' council of my college also bogged me down with an extra dose of responsibilities. During this period, we had the orientation and welcome programme for our freshers. We have also successfully organised our Techfest "NOESIS 2010" that was held from Oct 1-3.

Although my CAT exam's on 7th Nov. (Please wish me luck!!) ...I hope I'll get some time to post on my blog ...a li'l more frequently.

That's it from me now...

----Watch this space for more----

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