Shell Age - Manfred looking for Ellie

Absolutely hilarious article here.

There is a sad truth to the world today. I am part of a dying breed of people known as "shell users." We are an old-fashioned bunch, preferring the warm glow of a green screen full of text over the cold blockiness of a graphical interface. We use ssh, scp, and even occassionally ftp. Back in the days before high-speed connections ("broadband"), we would dial up during off-hours to avoid being slammed with huge phone bills. The whole "Microsoft Windows" fad will fade away sooner or later, but in the interim, our kind is facing extinction.

Because there are fewer and fewer of us, I must help keep our lineage alive. I am looking for someone to help me do this. I need a woman (obviously) who is willing to raise a child with me in the method of Unix. Our child will be introduced to computers at a young age, and will be setting emacs mode before any other child can even read. I earn a sufficient income to support a family in modest comfort. Other than the fact our child will be bright, text-based and sarcastic, we will otherwise be a normal family. We will even go to Disney World and see Mickey Mouse.

So, if you are a woman between the ages of 23 and 43 who is ready to raise a child in the way of the shell, let me know so we can begin the process. (If you are ready to raise more than one child, even better.)

PS - yes, this is for real. Given the right person, I would obviously propose before we ... call fork().
PPS - I only set emacs mode for my ksh session. I only edit files using vi. Just wanted to clear that up. And I'm looking to raise the child(ren) as a dedicated couple, so if you aren't interested in being married, you may wish to select() a different posting.

N.B. - on the issue of relocation. I live in a place where my income/expense ratio is proper (i.e., greater than 2:1). I'm willing to live anywhere in the world where this remains true. I've been to much of the country as well as foreign nations. There are no limits to where I will live *so long as the job market for unix admins is robust enough to be sustainable.* And yes, I am interested in a strictly monogamous situation. I've been known to actually turn down offers of "two chicks at the same time."

An even more hilarious discussion about this article here.

Of elevators and people !!

We have 2 elevators in the building where our office is, which are controlled by a central dispatch pad located on each floor. A very typical setting nowadays ..... I know ...... nothing out-of-the-world about this ..... I know ..... but given the number of people using elevators thus described ..... why do they commit the same *stupid* mistakes ..... I do NOT know !!!!

Seriously, everyday, I come across at least one person, who commits at least one of these. And if you have the time and the patience, do observe that person carefully (well, maybe not too carefully, if it were a lady, she might just slap you), it could also tell you quite a bit about the personality.

So ..... you are inside the elevator (going up or down doesn't make a difference), and you reach your floor. The doors open, and this horde of people just starts barging in !!! I mean, take a look around people, you have the entire corridor to yourselves (how many ever you might be), and there's not more than 6 or 7 of us inside this cubicle of 5' x 5' !! Not only that, but most of the times, some of us are wanting to alight, which is going to make SPACE FOR YOU to come in !!!!! Can you not hold on for a couple of seconds ?? Take a cue from the local train commuters in Mumbai ..... :-)

Why do people think that they are so important, that they should TELL the elevator, where it should be going ? So ..... a person, who has to travel to the ground floor, is standing on floor 3 (lets say, of a 6 storey building). Both the elevators are at some floor below him, and SO, this person presses the UP key. And this is because he feels that the lift should be coming UP, in order to pick him up, and take him to his destination !! Dude, you should not be telling the lift where IT should go, you should be telling it where YOU want to go !! Is this asking too much, is this not common-sense ? Do you tell a shopkeeper what HE should be selling, or do you tell him what YOU want to buy ???

And then, there are those people, who feel that they are so smart, that only when their divine fingers touch the keypad, will the elevator move, and all those stranded on this floor would be saved !! So ..... you are on the lowest floor (parking or ground or whatever), meaning everybody HAS to travel up. Somebody has already pressed the UP button, very clearly advertised by the red indicator light. In spite of this, this person walks up, rather impatiently, and purposefully pushes the same button far into the wall, and that too a number of times !! My good man, we still do not have finger-print recognition on the elevator control pads, in buildings with IT offices (which is a lot of buildings), in India, for you pressing the key to make a difference. Or do you just want to show off in front of the well-dressed female (standing alongside me, though not with me), that you have something very important awaiting you upstairs (which is incidentally not important enough for him to take the steps :-)) ??

Obviously, you also get to see a combination of these categories, and mark my words, it DOES tell you a lot about the personalities. Let me not get into HOW for now, because I am still in the process of evolving my theorems in this context :-).

To end, all I can do, is empathise with the poor lift-man (who casts knowing, help-less glances at me and my like, especially when his elevator stops mid-way for no apparent reason, and the other patrons look at him rather accusingly), and appeal to the above described category of people as:
"My dear people using elevators, please also use your brains too once in a while!!"

A related and very interesting article here.

मेरा जहाँ ......

Great work Mr. Prasoon Joshi (lyricist), Mr. Shankar, Mr. Ehsaan, Mr. Loy (Music) and Mr. Adnan Sami (for his dreamy voice, and dreams is basically what this song is all about :-)).

A little sweet, a little sour,
A little close, not too far.
All I need, all I need, all I need,
Is, to be free !!

चूम लू मैं, इतना करीब,
चल पडू, तो कितना दूर .....
सपनो का बुना sweater सा warm,
सफेद बादलों के पार .....

मेरा जहाँ !!!!!!!

Let me in, without a shout,
Let me in, I have a doubt.
Let me in, without a shout,
Let me in, I have a doubt.
There are more, many more,
Many many, many more, like me !!!!

अकेला नही मैं,
खुली आखों से, नीन्द मे चलता,
गिरता ज्यादा, कम संभलता,
फ़िर भी न कोई, शक ना शुबा,
निकलेगा फ़िर से, सूरज जो डूबा,
हैरत हो सबको, ऐसा अजूबा
है ..... मेरा जहाँ !!!!!!!

Open eyes, how I run,
How I run to the other side,
Then I glide, like a bird,
I just want to be !!!!!!!

उड़ने को सौ पंख दिये है,
चढ़ने को खुला आसमा .....
मुड़ने को है करवट, करवट,
और बढ़ने को ..... मेरा जहाँ !!!!!!!

बचपन के, दिन चार,
ना आएँगे बार बार,
जिले जिले, मेरे यार,
जेब खाली, तो उधार,
जी जिंदगी ..... !!!!!

A lot has already been said about the movie, so no point in re-iterating. Excellent movie, very well handled, and backed up some awesome music and lyrics.

Sachin's Cricket Ground

Seriously, why don't they just re-christen the "Sydney Cricket Ground" to be called the "Sachin's Cricket Ground" ??

4 matches, 6 innings, 4 not-out's, 652 runs at a whooping average of 326.00, 3 centuries and just the 1 fifty. And all of this is just till date (the second innings is yet to commence :-)).
[courtesy: stats.cricinfo.com]

Whatever happens to the match, I do not care ...... because The Man is back (if he ever was away) ...... the jinx is broken (if it ever was there) !!!

Also, I would like to thank Bhajji from the bottom-most part of my heart, stomach, whatever ..... for staying put through an entire session, unlike some others (who should not be in the team in the first place, especially for this series).

Long Live The Little Master !!