Cloud 10 freaks out on the ECR for the weekend

Fresh breeze... The rushing sound of the waves attenuating as they lap against the coast... The pleasant scent filling the air... Presenting to you, a marvelous weekend for the cloud 10, as they decided to check out the ECR front of chennai...

The occasion(do we need one?!!!), was Satti's birthday... Having had a fitful sleep last night(thanks to the 39-2 score in dota and the 29-13 in CS), I woke up late at around 11AM [:p]... A few of my relatives were gracing us with their visit, so I unwillingly forced myself into the bath and came out, still tired from last night's gaming... Satti and Giri came to tell me that they had left the bike(which Satti had borrowed the previous day) in the parking space... I wished Satti a joyous and memorable birthday, and they left... An hour later, the relatives came... I resigned myself to my room, not being the gregarious type... An hour of dota followed and I was idly(it's the present continuous form of 'idle', not the south indian 'delicacy' [:p]) killing the pitiable Necrolyte for about the 25th time when my mobile phone suddenly came to life, as if reminding me of its presence... It was Satti... the message was short... be at the gang's place by 2PM... As usual, I didnt delve into the issue... I just said I'd be there... he asked me to bring my bike's papers along... Finding something worthwhile to do, I searched for the papers and found them(at last) in a file, buried deep within the pile which i realized were my clothes... I changed fast and told mom that I'd be late... I rushed to the place and saw that everyone was dressed(may sound odd, but by 'dressed', I mean, they were dressed for an outing)... I soon realized we were going to the ECR... In about fifteen minutes, five bikes, with ten reckless juveniles were zooming along the roads of chennai, without a care for anything mundane or supernatural...

We reached the beach at around 5PM... Having decided to go for a movie at 7, we planned to stay out of the water... Apparently, the omnipotent thought otherwise... Under a sudden impulse, Balaji(KK) and Hari hauled Satti and started towards the water... They were soon joined by the rest of us, eager to help them in the 'mission'... A moment later, Satti found himself among the waves, drenched head to feet... Soon, the party extended to the rest of us, everyone taking turns at hoisting others and 'heave-ho' into the water he goes... We decided it wouldn't work to stay out of the water... So we got in and had a real gala time in there... the waves slamming against us, relentlessly as we tried to put up a bit of a fight... After an our, we were forced to accept... Nature was better at it, i guess it's because of experience(we're 20 years old, she is about 500 billion... an unfair fight)... tired but happy, we came out of the water, dried ourselves, to an extent, and went to the prarthana open air theatre... The movie 'Aarya'... a decent movie, not my type, though, with the heroine being a negative minded character... but it ended as all south indian movies do, the hero marrying the heroine and the bad guy going to prison... a long day, we decided to get back to our cozy homes... I was a tad irritated(i rather not go into the details, it's a bit uncomfortable), so I was riding the bike at a fairly high speed... In about half an hour, I dropped Arvind(Maya) at the 'place' and got back home... All in all, a wonderful day for the cloud 10... btw i forgot to mention the esteemed members who constitute the coveted gang called the 'cloud 10'... let's see... Ashwin(that's me), Arvind(Maya, my best buddy), Balaji(fondly called KK), Peri(the 'mama' of our gang, he is our godfather [:p]), Muthu(when he's around, it's always fun teasing him), Sathesh( a.k.a Satti, he's about 6'2 omg), Lakshmi Narayanan(the 'mokkai' of the gang, his jokes drive you mad, with anger more than humor), Amrish('kadai' as we call him, a fellow who's slightly thicker[:p] than a twig), Giri(the 'Neikkarapatti Nattamai') and Anbu('Peter' for his deliberate display of English)...

College Education - Is it a formality?

I'm doing my seventh semester in college... it'll be only a few months before I am given my UG degree... Bachelor of Engineering, specialized in Computer Science and Engineering it would read... thinking about it, I feel a pang of guilt, surging through my veins, challenging me... are you eligible for this degree, the unseen voice asks, a quiet yet imposing voice... I'm at a loss... what do i say? Am i eligible for this degree... let me recollect, what are the areas that I studied, for the past 6 semesters...hmm, we started off with data structures, went on to design and analysis of algorithms, system software, object oriented programming, digital theory, then, visual programming, operating systems, computer architecture, analog and digital communication, well, what next, database systems, computer networks, theory of computation, microprocessors, wow getting deeper into the mire...then, artificial intelligence, compiler design, software engineering, computer graphics, data mining and warehousing... phew, that's quite a lot of knowledge for 3 years, isn't it...

I ask myself, out of the heap [;)] of topics there, which of them can I say I am reasonably well versed in... not Visual Programming... that was a nightmare, which all of us managed to clear by mugging up some important questions right at the eleventh hour (my friends will be eager to give testimony for that...raised quite a stir)... not Microprocessors, I don't even know what a microprocessor chip does(I'm being entirely honest here, no exaggeration), I wonder how i managed a 93 in the end semester exam... let's see probably, Data Structures, I can say I know quite a bit of the stuff, the linked lists and stacks and queues... then, my C++ is good too, I mean, I'm not a wizard at it, but I can manage decently with C++ if asked to do something related to it... Operating Systems is one subject I'm OK with, it's mostly how the internal stuff works, so it's OK... Data Mining, well, it is the only subject I read with interest after C++ in my 3rd semester... well that about sums it up... so am I, with barely 20 percent knowledge in what I have studied for the past three years, eligible for the degree I would be deemed worthy of...


It may sound weird, but to a certain extent, the college system is at fault... Just think, a semester goes on for about 4 months, during which there are 90 working hours for each subject... the three internal tests that are mandatory take up 3*1 week each i.e 3 weeks... and count the holidays in the semester... a month gone between the two... we have 3 months on our hands... three months for learning operating systems or computer architecture? doesn't it sound a task even Hercules might be dubious about... still, the budding engineers in the making manage it... ever wondered how it was possible? OK, try this out... a week after a semester exams end, go pick out a random student and ask him a question from any subject... i bet you, he'll fail to answer it... at least 9 out of 10 students are that way... believe me, it's true... All students do is to cramp up their minds with the minimum information they need to clear the paper, and be done with it... the result, a certificate in the subject with a zero knowledge about it... I don't think this system can go on this way... how many generations can go convincing themselves that they're engineers, when actually they're not... A possible solution to this could be to extend the duration of the semester... have it as one year, instead of one semester... let the college period be 6 years instead of 4... but let it be quality education... when a student is declared an undergraduate in a field, he must be able to emphatically endorse it... an engineer should really be what his degree says he is...

MARRIAGES MIGHT BE MADE IN HEAVEN, BUT FRIENDSHIP, DEFINITELY ON DEAR EARTH

Do you have friends dear to you? Think of the first name that comes to your mind as you read this line... That name gives way to other names, each one stirring old memories like the sediments of a lake bring brought up into the open after a long time... Save a little time for these memories, they are what will keep you going when you're sixty, unable to walk, your hair pale and your body frail... Then, you will cherish these memories and feel an involuntary smile blooming on your lips... Friends may be many, but a few of them worth your memory... and that few will stay there forever... that's why i guess they say, "Relations may forsake you, friends follow you to heaven and hell"...

Friends at school, friends at college, friends at office, friends in your neighborhood... wherever you are, you'll never have a dearth for friendship if you're willing... The ten year old Billu who went with you to school everyday, shared his snacks with you, and played with you all evening is indeed a fond memory... grow up a bit, come to the stout Kiran, your co-back-bencher during your tenth to twelfth standards...the cracks about the teachers, the worries shared about the unfinished homework, the hours spent on the cricket pitch, the afternoons you spent at his place, chatting with his family... wow, brings back a lot eh? Buck up, get on with it, move to your college life... your 'gang', an elite group that gave a damn to just about anything and everything on earth... a carefree life... the look of anguish upon hearing that semester results are out, the joy in yelling out "I cleared all", the classes bunked together, the long bike journeys at blinding speed, deliberately deaf to advice... teasing the class 'pair'... college friends are probably the ones who occupy the center stage of your inner sanctum... omg, i can keep talking... this post is getting too long... anyway, just keep this in mind... don't lose your friends if it's the last thing you do in life... they're too good to be true, yet they are [:p]...

DOTA TIME - Who's this Sven???!!!

SVEN OWNAGE


Sven - The Rogue Knight...My favorite sentinel hero in dota...the reason? simple, he owns any map, any hero...lol...that must raise a few eyebrows no doubt...I've heard people say "My Viper will wipe out Sven" and "Sven is no match for my Necrolyte"...Possibly true, but i say, unlikely...Know how to build your character and how to play with Sven, you'll soon start loving him...I got addicted to him from the FIRST time i played him...

I used to play Lina Inverse, a decent girl but not hero-killing material...Eventually, after a couple of matches, I was tired of getting pwned by easy bots...A moment i let my concentration waver, boom, "Lina Inverse the Sorceress has fallen", it says in a melodramatic voice (with a touch of melancholy to rub it in)...Soon, I found myself browsing online strategy guides, on the lookout for a good hero...It was then that I found this battle tank...

Built for being a killing machine, Sven was recommended by most players as one of the most powerful characters in the game...I didn't find his skills very enterprising, but thought it was worth a try...After reading the entire guide, I started a game of dota...1 vs 1...I chose Sven, the Scourge Bane Elemental Atropos was my nemesis...Five minutes into the game, I was happy with Sven, he was killing creeps at a reasonably good rate...Seven minutes, Sven drew first blood with a well timed Storm Bolt to slay the fleeing Atropos...By then, I was level 4...To think, with Lina, my first hero kill would be around level 13 or so...Sven, with his armor boosted by the Toughness Aura was practically playing around with creeps by level 10...the splash damage of the Great Cleave adding agony to the already demoralized creeps...I didn't know that the actual party hadn't begun yet...I hadn't seen the power of God's Strength...It was only at level 16 when I had it maximized, that I decided to try it out...And when I did, instinctively, my reaction was "What the -"...I mean, I had a decent inventory with Satanic, Vladimir's Offering, Power Treads and an Assault Cuirass...Well, these are good, but when I took out Atropos in about four hits, I actually did a double take...By then, I had decided Sven was my man...On a sudden impulse, I decided to take on Roshan...In a few minutes, I discovered that he was totally useless against me...I killed him without a sweat, the lifesteal of my Satanic compensating for any damage he managed to give me...When the game ended at last, I was level 21 and my score was 29-1, the one death owing to a lapse in concentration (or over confidence maybe) when I chased Atropos right into his fountain *chuckles* ...Apart from that, it was a totally satisfying game, and to this day, Sven's my hero...

WHERE DO I START???!!!

Hmm...the first thing that comes to my mind...why the hell did I decide to create a blog today? Is it because tomorrow's C# and Cryptography exams were little more than a formality? Or is it because I am too bored to do anything else? Or is it because I saw Maya creating one and thought "well, why not?"...Anyway, reasons aside, i've got this underway, so here it is...

Presenting to you...aww, cut out the formal crap...go on, you'll find something there...