Surviving The Thanksgivings

For some, thanksgiving is a day when you wake up in the morning, make a list of people and spend rest of the day to hate them for not being with you. We have come up even with a term "Hate Giving Day". So everybody you knew runs away to their families, suddenly all shops and restaurants closes their doors, entire country like falls in to a comma and you poor soul have no where to go! Well, title of this blog is misleading: you not gonna survive this, but sure you can try...

• It's gonna snow: around 6" in New York and this city looks gorgeous in snow. Good opportunity to take cool photographs and email to everybody on your "hate list". Also this should provide more intensives to get up from the bed and go for Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.


• Watch the movie The Grinch (the Jim Carrey one). Watch one more time. Watch over again. In fact you might want to buy this DVD rather then renting it so that you can watch it over and over coming Christmas holidays also.


• Guess what. The cinemas, Boston Market and Malasian restaurents like Penang is not closed on thanksgiving and here's whole new pool of good movies out: 8 Miles, Harry Potter, Santa Clause 2, a Bond movie and some Indian-English flick called Hollywood Bolywood!


• It's also perfectly valid to go totally lazy. The TV people has got some cool flicks including Star Wars, Antitrust, Miracle On 34th, Vertical Limit and such stuff. To allow yourself not to get up from the bed in case of a "time window" in between stupid TV stuff, keep some thick book handy. And yes, don't forget to watch The Grinch in between.
  Suggested Listening: My December - Linkin Park
  

Happy ruining your hate giving.

Look, What's Time Has Done

This month there's something strange happening in my inbox. Lots of those emails are marriage invitations and some from the people who I knew as "geeks". And then I start remembering those days when we set in college labs until late, many times whole night and most of the time escaping from scheduled lectures. The girlfriends and dating was the least of the priority when there is a whole world with challenges in front of you to explore and win (partially that was also eased by the fact that only few female souls thought it worthy to pursue engineering as a field of study). We were tough, proud and ignorent.Some of us thought they don't want to live beyond 30s because it looked too boring. Most of us unanimously thought getting married, silently settling down and disappear in the mass of other 4 billions would be the worst possible way one can live a life. Today I still see likes of these people around. But for the eyes who knew them, there is a subtle difference. The faces doesn't have loud signs of a rebel - rather it looks more like tired fat exploiters. People expect our curiosity to age with us. You don't see people in their middle 30s and 40s roaming around science museums just by themselves - they are not supposed to be that curious! Aging is an interesting process and there was a debate: Is it imperfection or a necessity? While for most it's depressing to even discuss, the study of aging at cellular and genetic level is a fascinating biological paradox. One of the best work I've came across is a book called A Means To An End. While still written for a lay-person, it explores scientific theaories of aging without shying away from the technical language of molecular biology and genetics. However as a human beyond mass of bio-chemicals perhaps more interesting is the experience and emotions attached with aging. When I was cruising through that book Hackers, one of the things I anxiously wanted to know was what happened to those super hard-core computer geeks of 1960s. Where they are, what they are doing today and most importantly, are they the same? If not, where the compromises have made it's home? Author has put this information in the very last chapter and to read it is like reading the Revelation in the Bible. Watching a movie of a large building being demolished with carefully planned explosives has different sets of emotion. Is it fun? scary? Exciting? Disappointing? This experience is perhaps best written in a tiny book by G. H. Hardy written in 1950s called A Mathematician's Apology. When mathematicians - the people obsessed with reality, people with the eyes of pure logic rather then good or evil - writes about emotions it ought to shine like a dew on the rock. When I read this book couple of years ago I thought I'd like to carve it in stones so it's there even if humanity manages to loose it's every printed copy. The book cold heartedly deals with author's diminishing abilities for mathematics with his age and one of the most passionate arguments for doing mathematics. Pretty much every paragraph in this book you can put as a quote on your walls! However it couldn't have been more cold hearted then one of that interesting finale of Star Trek Voyager. Most fiction ends either in good thing or bad thing - but not the most probable reality. An average life of human population, with no magic and no coincidences, usually doesn't interest fiction writers. But that Voyager finale appeared to be little different - for first few minutes i.e. The characters who you came to adore are now shown old, have white hair, have wrinkles, some of them already died, some of them insane and most of them looks helpless. Watching your strong heroes ending up in their aged weak state, their lives passed by without any magic is watching reality working like a knife made out of ice. Not everybody can take it. And so after those few minutes, authors of Voyager finale soon puts in some magic and attempts to sweetens their pill. Funny. And there was this quote somewhere: time is the only critic - everyone else has just opinions and fantasies.

Shooting Stars Getting Ready To Fall

Leonid meteor shower is slowing down every year but it's still a magnificent event. I was fortunate to witness this heavenly fireworks last year at a mountain lake some 20 minutes away from my home and there was shooting stars falling down at the rate of one per second for the entire period of more then 15 minutes. Now that's more shooting stars a person would otherwise see in his or her entire life time! Well, I didn't had too many wishes to make so came back home with just memories of bright lines meteors made and their reflections in the lake. This year it's gonna be around 6 times less intense (that is only 10 meteors/min) but still that's a lot! For USA East coast residents the peak will be at 5:30 AM on 19th November (while predicted blue moon is just setting on the west). Check out more info at space.com.

Also, if you had like to be keep up with such time sensitive news, head down to my personal group.

Two IMAX Flicks

Just watched new episode of South Park and took my regular dosage of grossness, cursing and offensive language. Feels better... love it! Ok... now back to the bad stuff. I haven't been keeping track of new movies since past couple of months because all of them pretty much sucked but now here's two IMAX movies that you might not be aware of and that's gonna go away soon. Both are running at Loews IMAX theater (67th St and Broadway, New York City).

• Space Station 3D: This is the movie that you don't want to absolutely miss. Watching this movie on huge 8 story high screen, with 42 speakers and in 3D is probably the next best thing to be actually there in space. It has been shot by actual astronauts with cameras in their helmets. The philosophical thoughts of us being something special is sure to trigger in your mind when you show those awesomely beautiful Earth views filling your entire eye sight on that huge screen. Photography of zero gravity environment, astronauts' daily lives and their way of having fun is just amazing. Recommended sit: The very first row!
  


• Star Wars - Episode II: I'm not a Star Wars fan but this might be worth to check out if you have extra time and money. I'd watched Episode II when it came out earlier this year (it was than running at AMC's digital cinema which is probably one of very few of it's kind) but to say the least, it's the weird story even for geeks! The IMAX version is not really re-created for huge screen and you can clearly see the low resolution distortions in graphic effects when it's projected on that huge screen. However that chase scene with sky diving sequences in futuristic city are the real treat and totally worth on the extra large screen. The THX digital sound effect also works great. This movie has limited engagement.
  

How To Get To Sleep Faster

Not submitting ourselves to sleep is a problem for many of us. Here's few of the ideas that I found works getting little closer to your dreams :)

• The thing that almost always worked for me is to read real complex book filled with poorly proven math equations and undecipherable physics text (or some translated ones). It quickly drains out all extra energies and puts you in nice sleep (no pun intended)!


• Turn on your air conditioner. The heat won't let you die. The colder environment slows down body functions, helps to dry down the energy levels and drives you towards the kind of "stasis". Note that you should never sleep without warm comforter/duvets in this case (even if this looks contradictory)


• The new recent find that has also worked well: drink glass of warm milk before going to sleep! Well, actually it's from all-wise Guineen's character in Star Trek TNG. No wonder it works :)


• The last one is to put on the run of classical music on very low volume. It isn't very effective but it's cool!

Some Books About Programmers

Just read couple of reviews of my blogs at Weblog Review. Looks it aren't all that bad after all :).

This one is about the few cool books that I came across on programmer's life, passions, dreams and thoughts. To tell you the truth, all of them has kept me awake until early mornings since past few months. If you are hard core programmer from the roots, you are in for the real treat! Be hold!

The first on the list is Hackers. No, it isn't about breaking illegally in to some computer system. It's about the very first computer programmers who put their foot steps in to this new world - like a little curious girl entering in the wild magical world of fairy tales. But more than the technicality, the thing that will touch you, cut your skin and swirl through your soul is the stories of passion that these people had - stories that are now permanently carved in to every page of this little book. A wonderful work. After coming from work, I would usually tell myself that I'm gonna read couple pages and then I'll got to sleep and almost always I ended up staying awake until 5 in the morning with my face little tired of all those smirks that passed by. I can see myself and my career like a mirror in this book. It's like reading stories of your ancestors and identifying yourself - or more like explaining yourself why the way you are. I believe you don't have to be techie to read this book - it's more a testament than a technology on the heights of human passion that this profession somehow inherently needs you to posses.

Second on the list is Hard Drive. It's about Bill Gates and building of Microsoft during early years (1975-1990). Well, I never really cared about this (this is my first book on the subject) and my perception of Bill Gates was pretty much like "smart business man who got super lucky". Above book, Hackers, however changed all that. I was actually shocked to know that Bill Gates is really just another hacker - a hard core geek - just like many of others around. And I was just hooked up in to those stories - probably some of the coolest one in Software industry. Author has like picked up all tiny hilarious interesting details. I used to find myself spending hours in conversations about bits from this book and spreading laughs. You just can't put it down!

Last one and which I haven't finished yet (I'm kind of saving it from reading it entirely) is the Show-Stoppers. It's hilarious. detailed, passionate and revealing inside stories of one of the biggest software project ever under taken. After reading the Hard Drive I just can't get enough to know about the Microsoft. This book takes from where Hard Drive leaves - the after 1990 era. And this one is very detailed and that's why it's more fun to read. I almost felt like a team member who lived in the NT team - feeling same pressure, finding ways to curse, getting ashamed for blunders and rejoicing for the final target that would be achieved. If you happen to live in programming world, this book is an absolute must Don't Miss. For others, take it as an optional.

New Music Finds

I missed Central Park visit this Sunday. So now this is happening 3 years in row. Anyway, this blog is about the new cool music artists/albums I found in past few months. It's starts with Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory. To say the least, this is the one we call it "a land mark". Very artsy compositions, meaningful smart lyrics and the best part: hybrid of melody and metal. You can't possibly miss this one. I haven't heard so much "visual" music in such quantity and quality. No, you need not be "metal" guy to listen to this. However the word of caution: many of the lyrics and song styles in this album can drive you in to frustration, illusionary fears or induce suicidal thoughts. You do need to be strong to listen to this and very strong to enjoy it.
Next on the list is Jewel. When I heard her voice for the first time I was almost stunned by the sweetness and soul embedded in her voice. And to this date, I consider her as the best female vocals on the planet. She writes her own songs though many of them I consider sucks (her poetry book is available on Amazon). Few totally outstanding numbers: "Absence Of Fear", "Time After Timely", "Break Me" and "My Hands Are Small". The first one, the "Absence Of Fear", I consider the best love song ever written and sung. Many compare (and occasionally mistakes) her to Cranberries but I guess the "souls" these two artists put in their songs have different identities. To hear Jewel is treat to ears and thanks to modern day technology, it's available to entire world!
I'll include few of my old finds later but before I log out, here's the very latest: DJ Sammy! I randomly picked up his new CD "Heaven" in the sale at Wiz hoping to hear some cool trans and I glad I did. This is almost perfect (11 out of 13 tracks are vibrantly cool) and easily the second best techno-trans album after Moby's Play. Tracks are full of life and energy and there's no repetition... The creativity poured in this album is amazing. Most of the tracks are seamlessly combined with very cool female vocals from Yanou (though she hasn't got much credit on front CD cover) - a voice with unparalleled sweetness, imagination and passion. Another peculiar quality of this album is that as you hear it too much, instead of getting dull, it keeps getting better - it's been kind of longest lived CD in my car's player (i.e. 5 days). You need not be trans-junkie to like this album. It will catch your ears whoever you are. Only thing, being an import CD (euro dance) it costs lot: $18 to $25.

Alone Alone All The Way

I like to observe the universe as a cold hearted logic machine... emotionless like a drone... trying to find reasoning... and exploits to build more deterministic world. Perhaps that's why I was swept by the concept of Borgs when I saw them in Star Trek. And so I'd thought I'm designed to stay alone... Me, my books, my thoughts - can go long way before there's a need for human contact, touch, feeling or emotions. Loneliness seemed to be blessing which gave you freedom to work your way. That is, till now. I guess I saw it... saw it in it's entirely... probably saw it the way God might have create it.. or seen it. And when you do, it passes though each of your hair on skin, racing to make every bit of life meaningless and breaking every bit of your strength you had. It can't be defeated. You either accept it or you seize to exist. It's cold dark endless universe and it's probably the scariest experience or may be just too vast to accommodate in human senses. I watched my cold hearted logic machine breaking down... May be I'll rebuild but the fact that it can be broken down is annoying.... unacceptable... But I guess it did lot of work... slowly and steadily to bring down all the walls until all that was left were us - from eye to eye - a stare to know each other. A crave to reach out - like wanting to someone pull my hand from quicksand. I felt eternity in the moments that passed before someone would touch my hand. I thought I wanted to give up everything for one touch, one contact. I felt angered and weak... weak like a sand castle... trying to put myself together against a blow. But then I think may be I wanted to get defeated. But as in any experiment, I guess I now understand lots of things... I understand how it feels... like a point traveling in cold, dark and infinite space, with no hope of destination.... no destination.... no purpose. It's scary... And perhaps that's why God created the universe.

Outdoor Clubs On East Coast

If you are single or have hard time to make you friends get of bed to climb some mountains or paddle some rivers - well, here's something that might interest you. I've found few huge and really cool organizations that engage themselves in doing some interesting adventure outings in groups. The biggest and the best of these is the Sierra Club. It's purpose of existence is nature conservancy and awareness. Every week they have multiple outings - hikes, kayaks, group dinners, meetings and even outdoor movie shows! The places I'd visited with some of the hike leaders this summer were mind blowing, kind of secret gems... They also have special singles outings which I guess is better place to find that special someone then anywhere else because people who you meet in these clubs are the ones who you can identify with yourself, the spirit of adventure and sense of exploration. The Sierra club is non-profit, has chapter in almost every state in US (I usually go out with NY and NJ chapters) and they excert high influence on US nature policies.

Another huge organization is AMC or Appalachian Mountain Club. They stand out by the diversity and huge quantity of outings they offer - including everything from hiking, sailing, kayaking, tour of Brooklyn bridge, night time Central Park, ice caves, all summer softball at Central Park, camping at their own facilities, windjammer cruises, tree identification walks, a day at Coney Island and so on. In spite of these, I like them less compared to Sierra due to couple of reasons. They don't publish their schedules fully on web and force you to get their printed book. That tiny book takes time to arrive and can easily get misplaced. Many of the hike leaders doesn't have or disclose their email addresses and at many instances, you will find it hard to contact them by any means even if they disclose anything at all. While most the people you will meet are very respectable and pleasant in person, the Sierra's flavor of openness and friendly feel is not as strong.

The last organization on the list is ADK or Adirondack Mountain Club. Actually this is the first one I came to know about before any other. While it's small and locally focused on NY/North NJ, I believe it's the most intimate and friendliest club around. But the coolest things they do which sets them apart from everybody else is their international and national adventure travel. The list includes week-long outings like staying with real Inuit people at Greenland in the way they live, hikes at Swiss Alps, England Coast-to-Coast, trekking with donkeys in France, Grand Canyon backpacking, Alaska rafting and so on.

A last point: I've often observed that that age proportion at many of these vibrant exciting clubs is not well balanced: numbers of young people (in 20s) is strikingly and surprisingly less. I guess it's responsibility of people like us to spread the word and keep these clubs and spirit alive in the coming time. So get out of the bed and go somewhere!