Friday, May 22, 2009

There are too many prophets here : HIMYM

Now just a week after BBT ended its season,its time now for the HIMYM.
HIMYM has ended its season 4 with a great episode,an end which ensure that you are glued to the screen when the next season shows up and its going to be "Legen---Dary".

The best thing i ever got from this show is what Barney said to Ted in the 1st episode "Am going to teach you how to live",while i thought i don't really need anyone to teach me the arts of survival, but i was not completely wrong and at the same time not completely correct.
(Wow ! even my speech is now of the Show style,What up? High 5!)


There is an enigma,which the show has been able to create right from the season one,season where we meet the GANG and now the magic is still there,till the end of the season 4,an end where we finally meet the GOAT !!,
where we know that the Ted has changed his profession and is now a professor of architecture.
Well am happy for him and happy that the Barney-Robin relationship finally getting into some good shape,
and what a Leap that was !!

The finale had a beautiful background score - "Prophets" by A.C. Newman.
One of the finest and the most beautiful songs i have ever listened.

Lyrics of the song :

I was a silent partner I found
Myself with the rabble that stood on a mound
Hipshot thinking but not out loud
There are too many prophets here

On the upper side of the sound of the dark
I took it in silence I took it to heart
I carried it quietly over the wall
There were too many prophets there
I was behind it

One by one by one by one
One by one by one by one
Stand by zero
Stacked on zero
One by one by one by one
One by one by one by one

I was a silent partner for once
And I was split into two sections
Here is my heart and here is my song
There are too many prophets here
I am divided

One by one by one by one
One by one by one by one
Stand on zero
Stacked on zero

I was the silent partner I know
The part of the forrest where you shouldn't go
Now out of the woods and out in the day
I see there's too many prophets here

One by one by one by one
Stand on zero
One by one by one by one
Stacked on zero
One by one by one by one
Stand on zero
One by one by one by one
Stacked on zero
One by one by one by one

How to get this song? well you can always get it from Amazon or other sites,just search the internet. Its 21st century there are ways of getting something one wants.

and remember "No one is hotter than GOD !!"

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Indian general election,2009

We finally have the results of the Indian General elections,2009 :

The Congress led UPA swept 261 seats up from 218 last election.
The BJP led NDA stood with 158 down 181.
The CPM led Third Front made only 68.

A brief analysis :

India held general elections—the largest democratic election in the world—to the 15th Lok Sabha in five phases on April 16, April 22/23, April 30, May 7 and May 13, 2009. The results of the election were announced on May 16, 2009.

On May 16, 2009, after poor showing in early trends that showed Indian National Congress and the United Progressive Alliance, with 250+ seats, Bharatiya Janata Party conceded defeat, and acknowledged that they could not be the single largest party or a single largest alliance.
After a surprising showing in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, the UPA was given a mandate, and the Indian National Congress are set to form the government under the incumbent prime minister candidate Manmohan Singh, who is the first Prime Minister of India since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1962 to win re-election after serving a full five-year term.

Indian election at a glance

  • Eligible voters: 714 million voters
  • Polling centres: 828,804
  • Voting days: 16, 23, 30 April; 7, 13 May
  • Vote counting: 16 May
Alliances Party Seats won Change
United Progressive Alliance
Seats: 260
Seat Change: +79
Indian National Congress 206 +61
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 18 +2
Nationalist Congress Party 9 -
All India Trinamool Congress 19 +17
National Conference 3 +1
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha 2 -3
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen 1 -
Republican Party of India (Athvale) 0 -1
Indian Union Muslim League 2 +1
Kerala Congress (Mani) 1 +1
National Democratic Alliance
Seats: 159
Seat Change: -17
Bharatiya Janata Party 116 -22
Janata Dal (United) 20 +12
Shiv Sena 11 -1
Rashtriya Lok Dal 5 +2
Shiromani Akali Dal 4 -4
Asom Gana Parishad 1 -1
Indian National Lok Dal - -
Telangana Rashtra Samithi 2 -3
Third Front
Seats: 78
Seat Change: -27
Left Front 24 -29
Bahujan Samaj Party 21 +2
Biju Janata Dal 14 +3
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 9 +9
Telugu Desam Party 6 +1
Janata Dal (Secular) 3 -1
Haryana Janhit Congress 1 +1
Pattali Makkal Katchi 0 -4
Fourth Front
Seats: 26
Seat Change: -38
Samajwadi Party 22 -14
Rashtriya Janata Dal 4 -20
Lok Janshakti Party 0 -4
Other Parties
Seats: 18

18 -

Source: Election Commission of India

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

The Big Bang Theory : Season 2 ends

"Our whole universe was in a hot dense state, then nearly Fourteen billion years ago expansion started, Wait!
The earth began to cool, the autotrophs began to drool, neanderthals developed tools,
we built a wall, we built the pyramids,
math, science, history, unraveling the mystery that all started with the big bang, BANG!"

If u are a BBT fan,this song needs no introduction
Oh dear god,one of the greatest sitcoms...The Big Bang Theory

Maybe you don't have a 300 I.Q. (then again, maybe you do), but there must be something that you identify with in the Geek Musketeers of The Big Bang Theory.
Maybe you're a people person like Sheldon, a ladies man like Howard, the center of conversation in a room of beautiful women like Rajesh or perfectly adept in any social situation like Leonard,but whatever it is,if you are a fan of this show,then this must be really sad for you that the season 2 has end.

This show was at S02 E05,when i started viewing it and since then i have been a die hard follower. Weeks were difficult to pass,when there was no new BBT episode.And now the season has ended,but the great thing is that before the season went off,CBS renewed the show for not only the 3rd season,but for also the future seasons 2010-2011,Yippee!!.
The third season is expected to air in fall 2009.

About the Show :
The Big Bang Theory
is an American situation comedy created and executive produced by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, which premiered on CBS on September 24, 2007.

It concerns two male Caltech prodigies in their twenties, one an experimental physicist (Leonard) and the other a theoretical physicist (Sheldon), who live across the hall from an attractive blond waitress with show-biz aspirations (Penny).

Leonard and Sheldon's geekiness and intellect are contrasted with Penny's social skills and common sense for comedic effect. Two equally geeky friends of theirs, Howard and Rajesh, are also main characters. The show is produced by Warner Bros. Television and Chuck Lorre Productions.

Here is a fun tribute to the great season ,a great show.








Monday, May 11, 2009

My Robotics Exam

Subject : Robotics and CAM I
Date : 11 May,2009

I love robotics

One of the first few things,which i was made aware of, when i joined engineering was that some day we would imbibe the great knowledge of working with Robots,the language of robotics and etc. This I call as the the "Automation factor",some kind of a "placebo effect".
The wait was big enough,...two and a half years.

But i was still happy with the belief that the knowledge would be given in the most effective way,that i will do the best of my hard work and all this wait would be nothing compared to the happiness that i will attain,but things never went the way they were expected to.

There are days,when the dreams of many are shattered,all the beliefs and hopes are smashed and hit hard at,yes today was "that" kind of a day, this feeling was always there when i attended this lecture and also when i gave my mid term exam.

No,the subject is not tough to study, humans have and will continue to study it,so will I.

Now about the examination :
The paper was designed in a really awkward manner,the level of difficulty was not taken care about for all the questions,few questions were like which were really really silly and easy and then there were questions who were relatively of a much higher difficulty level. And guess what ,both kind of questions were worth the same score.

How the paper went for me :
From my previous lines it would have already been clear that i didn't fair well,but that is not the fact,actually it was the same varying level of difficulty which saved me, and must would have saved many other students.
But still the paper continues to be the most awkwardly set paper i have seen.

Lets hope for the best.
Exams have come and blogging has begun.



Sunday, May 10, 2009

ASIMO

ASIMO is a humanoid robot created by Honda. Standing at 120 centimeters weighing 54 kilograms, the robot resembles a small astronaut wearing a backpack and can walk or run on two feet at speeds up to 6 km/h.
ASIMO was created at Honda's Research & Development Wako Fundamental Technical Research Center in Japan. It is the current model in a line of eleven that began in 1986 with E0.

Officially, the name is an acronym for "Advanced Step in Innovative MObility". Honda's official statements claim that the robot's name is not a reference to science fiction writer and inventor of the Three Laws of Robotics, Isaac Asimov.

As of February 2009, there are over 100 ASIMO units in existence.Each one costs just under $1 million to manufacture, and some units are available to be hired out for $166,000 year.

I had the experience of shaking hands with this cute and highly intelligent humanoid robot,when it was brought to India for a Robotics exhibition back in 2008. It performed a "robotwalk" for the audience.That was a great show and I am glad i was there.

This is one of the reasons i love Engineering, you actually experience a lot of things even before u are a graduate,which other people can only look with an awe !!

I look forward to my further interactions with such robots,
For now i have a Robotics exam tomorrow.

More About Asimo can be found out here

Not just CAT,now its...."CAT and MOUSE"

"CAT goes online", screamed all the newspapers a couple of weeks back. Though, the IIMs have not come out clearly on the 'what and how' of CAT Online, Here is what IMS contemplates :

Paper Based Tests v/s Online Tests

With the CAT going online, the question on top of everyone's mind is
"How will the computer based test be different from the traditional paper based test?"

In this section, we try to highlight the possible implications of the CAT going online. Note that the following is only indicative and a better assessment will only be possible after the IIMs give out more information on the testing process to be followed this year.



Paper Based Tests Online Tests

Pre-test Application Buying Offline : Available at Axis Bank branches Online / Offline
Application Submission Offline: Mail to IIMs Probably Online with offline verification process
Test Date 3rd Sunday of November 10 day window towards the end of this year (sometime in Nov/Dec)
Test Centres 23 Test Centres 23 Test Centres*
Test Time 10:00 am - 1:00 pm Different time slots available over a 10 day period, to be booked on a first come first serve basis
Admit Card Mailed to candidates mailing address/ Available online Will Probably be available online

Test Day Test Registration Details to be marked on a OMR Details to be entered online
Sectional Time No sectional time limits, Sections can be answered in any order, candidate can also jump to and fro across sections Test can enforce sectional time limits with sections to be answered in a fixed order: candidate may not be allowed to go back to previous sections
In this scenario, test takers can no longer spend more time on their areas of strength to maximise their scores
Navigation Student can view all questions at a time : may choose to solve questions in any order Candidate may be able to view only one question at a time: may need to solve questions in a fixed order
Candidates may be allowed to flag a question so that they may return to it later
Test Questions Same for all students Different set of questions (with similar level of difficulty) will be administered to students
Alternatively, the test may have an adaptive logic ala GMAT
Test Format CAT keeps changing, and the candidates do not know the same until they get the test paper in hand. The test will most probably have a fixed format that will probably be specified in the CAT bulletin
Time per Q There is no mechanism to capture time spent on each question by the student In an online format, the testing body can capture and analyse the time spent on each of the questions to arrive at some meaningful information
Readability Easy to navigate, especially while solving Reading Comprehension passages and Data Interpretation caselets Candidate may need to scroll up/down to read the entire passage, thereby causing inconvenience.
Working Notes Marking important lines, making working calculations besides the question is easy with pen and paper Candidate will now have to read the test online and make notes offline, which probably need more time than the corresponding paper based process
Essay Test does not include an essay, simply because it would be difficult for the test body to evaluate the same Like GMAT and GRE, a candidate may now have to submit an essay online. However, the essay might be used only at the second stage of evaluation.

Test Prep Skills required Verbal Ability, Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretive and Logical Ability Additionally, one would need basic computer skills : the candidate should be comfortable using the keyboard and mouse
Concept Learning Candidate needs to be thorough in concepts tested in the CAT: complete the BRMS, attend classes, use helplines, take the support of your instructors/mentors Nothing changes really!!
Practice Test one's conceptual understanding by solving questions that require you to apply them. Additionally, one should hone one's basic computer skills by making the practice comp-based.
Simulation One needs to take sufficient number of tests in a truly simulated environment Nothing changes except that the candidate now needs to get acclimatized to a comp-based testing environment

Post Test Analysis One can go on and on with question by question analysis of the test, detailed test solutions, possible good scores/percentiles… Limited scope for analysis, as there would be no test paper to be carried back home for such a detailed analysis
Results Available after one and a half months May be available within a very short span of time
Frequency CAT is conducted only once a year, scores are valid for current year only CAT may be conducted multiple times with validity over an extended period

Source : IMS Learning Resources Pvt. Ltd

What is most important : Concept Learning,nothing changes !!

Exams are here !!

Exams are here
and these are the few quotes i must agree upon:

"80% of the final exam will be based on the one lecture you missed and the one book you didn’t read
If you are given an open-book exam, you will forget your book.
If you are given a take-home exam, you will forget where you live."

Me vs the Rest of the subjects begin on 11th May
(will be a ten day "Test" match with 5 innings of 70 overs each)
The pressure will be equal on both the sides.
Profs will ensure that this continues to be a great contest,like the Mid term examinations,and I must ensure full commitment towards my preparations.

Mid term examinations were like 5 matches of T-20 cricket :
Batsman : Me
Bowler : Professor
The bowler was consistent (so was the batsman :) ),the match was full of Pace bowling,Spin and skillful use of Doosra was ensured by the experienced bowler.
Batsman was inexperienced, bouncers from the bowler always kept him on the back foot,but a few top edges and mishits delivered the most cherished boundaries.


The week before examination has been spent watching HIMYM and IPL,
watched almost all the episodes and the matches .........LEGENDARY !!
BTW...i support Chennai Super Kings, Big Fan !!

Wish me and the CSK a best of luck !!!