Away from Bengaluru
Trip Planner Mind Map
Originally uploaded by The Last Paladin
This blog has been collecting dust. Infact, twitter spoiled this blog. :p
I’ve planned to go on a trip with my friends, and this is the mindmap of all the things that are needed. Please suggest if something needs to be added.
Apart from this, going on a trip with little planning, for six days. Off from regular work, should provide some relief from the robotic Bangalore life.
See you!
Nandi Hills
Went to Nandi Hills last weekend. It was a cloudy day, riding on the highway was a pleasure. Easily exceeded 110 kmph on my bike on the wonderful (some traffic signals though) highway. The climate was awesome in Nandi Hills, fog all over in the morning. Fog began clearing towards the afternoon, and on the way back, the view was awesome.
I love the colour of sky and clouds there, which we hardly can see in cities. I enjoyed the trip. Clicked few photos, see them on flickr.
Girls, please drive sensibly
I know the post title will bring out some ‘nice’ comments. But, I mean what I say. Just because you are on the road with a two wheeler, you can’t dance on road. Keep your lane, don’t turn left and right at your wish. What would one expect when it is obvious that some vehicles are waiting to take a right turn? And this great lady comes perpendicular on road from the right lane to the left lane, with out looking if anyone is coming on the left lane. And crash…! My bike can come from 60 to 0 in less than 4 seconds, but I dint have that time to react. And I’m not driving at 60 too. Crash… in a second, just to avoid hitting her vehicle, I fell down and my vehicle got scratches (I know how to apply brakes). And the lady fled the scene. What would happen if a boy does the same? Oh God! Gimme a break.
Girls (boys also), please drive sensibly. Use two wheelers if you know how to drive, don’t drive just because you have a vehicle and a driving license. There are other people on the road too.
Yamuna Teeram, Sandhya Ragam
Anand, a refreshing movie that I would love to see again and again. I woke up only after noon today, and this movie that was telecast on MAA TV was a good start for the day. I’m a fan of Sekhar Kammula movies, they are very different from other movies that are sick with exaggerated heroism of big stars in Tollywood.
The most beautiful thing about the movie is the lighting. The fresh morning sun light, and the two coffee cups. Wow, I would see it again and again. And the music adds to the wonderful movie. I love it.
Smoking ban leaves many on the roads
Until Oct 1, all the IT companies had designated smoking areas in their buildings which were always occupied by smokers. But today, the first working day after the ban on smoking in closed or public places, ex-smoking areas were deserted and there came a shining new ‘NO SMOKING – Smoking here is an offense.’ board.
And all the smoker techies who appeared with coffee cups in one hand and a cigarette in the other hand, were standing on the road to smoke. I think the real spirit of the law is – do not smoke when non smokers are around.
Simply by not smoking in the no smoking areas doesn’t make you a good citizen, only not smoking when non-smokers are around is what makes you a good citizen.
50kmph just not enough
My new Apache RTR is kick-ass, still dint cross 50 kmph due to the run-in period. Riding at 50kmph on inner ring road is just not enough. Just done 150 odd km. Waiting for that 1000-mark to push her to the limits. 
(
Worst experience with Nokia
I own a Nokia N73 phone. It came with a 2 Gig memory card, but that hardly worked after I bought it. I gave it at one of the nokia care centers in march. Still, I dint get the replacement for the card which was covered under warranty upto now. Be careful when you choose your nokia care center. Edgecom in Tippasandra Market, Bangalore is one of the worst in providing service. I thought I was the only unhappy customer of theirs, but there were lots more. Lot of people are complaining of their service. Don’t forget to choose a good service center. Dont be a fool like me.
Update: I got it back at last, after fighting with the center manager. Whoa, six months!
Unlocking Airtel HTC Touch
After the bomb blasts menace in Bangalore yesterday, I thought it was all over. We went to watch ‘The Dark Knight’ on Sunday morning. My teammate called me and informed that a live bomb has been defused. Well, life can’t wait for anything. So, be alert and keep going.
After we came back from the movie, Neeraj dropped by and asked me which mobile phone to buy. He had a sexy HTC touch smart phone, so asked him what the problem was. He’s moving to Chennai and his HTC is locked with Airtel. Now we had two choices, go out and buy a new phone or unlock the HTC and use it with some other GSM provider.
Little research on Yahoo! Search threw some light on how to unlock HTC. There were many paid services around, but using credit cards on random sites is not a good idea and we Indians are fond of free stuff. So, I narrowed down on to a free stuff. Here is a blog that talks on the topic – to unlock a HTC Touch. Three simple steps, your HTC will be unlocked.
I feel the locking concept is seriously insane. But, he chose to buy it after knowing the fact that it’s locked with Airtel. Any way, we’ve unlocked it and now it works with any provider.
Caution: Use random downloads from the Internet at your own risk.
Black Friday in Bangalore
Eight serial bomb blasts rocked the IT hub of India today. From the timings of the blasts, it looked pretty much like a coordinated attack. News channels reported it was triggered by a timer device. At least two people lost their lives and several injured. Police say the blasts were low intensity, but a blast is a blast. Why should someone play with people’s lives? Some time back, there was a terror attack in Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; now in several places. Where is Bangalore heading?
I don’t understand what terrorists (or anyone who did this) are going to achieve by doing this. I think people have learnt to live with all these problems, just forgetting the blues and going ahead. And in a country like India, what can police do other than trying their best to stop all this menace?
Running life on batteries
When we came home on Friday evening, it was darkness inside!
I forgot to pay our Rs. 118 electricity bill outstanding. The BESCOM guy came and gave a new bill and disconnected our power connection. Venkat had to pack his luggage and this should have irritated him. “Pay the bill, call the guy on this number, you will get the connection back” was the message on the notice board. If I had access to the Internet, I would have paid at the moment. “Somebody give me access to Internet” was my cry that time. My GPRS was not working at that time, thanks to Airtel.
I searched for wireless networks if something was available, found an adhoc but couldn’t connect. Then, I decided to give up. From then till next afternoon, I was running on batteries: my laptop and my mobile phone – no Internet. Laptop battery is a good timer, if you do not want to spend too much (waste) time at night, don’t connect your laptop to a/c power, you will sleep happily.
Finally, I woke up at 11 AM on Saturday, went to office and paid the bill online. After we called the guy, he told his office time was over and he could come only on Monday. In India, there is a second route for everything. My apartment got power at 6 PM finally.
