Saturday, July 23, 2005
I read the book awhile back. First online: I downloaded it off the numerous dubious sources for such revered content, and when I’d already finished that, mom got me a hardcopy.
I didn’t (and don’t) feel the same kind of excitement with this book than with others. Have no clue why though: not saying this book is bad, just that there’s not so much magic as last time. The reason probably though is that I was half sick when I read it.
Something to say to lots of people who are being introduced to “reading” through Potter. It’s definitely a great series, more wonderful because people of all ages like it well, but it’s not the be-all end-all of writing that we call “fantasy”. Niether is ‘Lord of the Rings’, in case you were thinking that: try authors like Greg Keyes, Eddings, George R.R. Martin, Anne Rice, and well… lots of others. It’ll be great if Harry helps you step up to better reading. 
Tags: reading
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Sunday, July 17, 2005
I came down with fever yesterday, and a lot of coughing. Right now, I’m sick and miserable as anything. And to add to it, I have my lab exams day after. Wish me luck :-/
Edit: Thanks for the well wishes My exams went okay, and my fever’s finally down.
Tags: chaff
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Wednesday, July 6, 2005
I received them Ubuntu CDs in the mail yesterday. The package was frayed and a sorry sight to look at, but just the fact that it arrived amazes me. For a completely free service, the delivery alone is a benchmark.
I have twenty x86 and five x86-64 CDs to give away. Leave a comment if you’d like one (and if we can meet somehow).
Tags: software
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Monday, July 4, 2005
Which of the below looks nicer?
vysnu.com/me
or:
vysnu.com/me/
The second one? I agree. It looks much more “balanced”.
In a normal static directory layout of a webserver however, these two are not equivalent. /me would refer to a file and /me/ would refer to a directory. In the case that it is indeed a directory, when a webserver encounters a /me, it would recognize that a directory is being refered to, and automatic error correction would make it return the desired result (i.e., the DirectoryIndex of /me/). In such static webmodels, /me/ involves another step, and since this is webserver costly, it’s frowned upon.
Consider a newer (and perhaps more common) scenario now when neither does /me refer to a file nor does /me/ refer to a directory. These are mapped to a request handler that serves assembled output depending on the url context. Wordpress, the software that powers this weblog works in this manner. In such an instance, why does it prefer /me/ (as in like this) over /me? If it’s just the aesthetic element, then I can find a counterweight.
/me is one slash less. When you say it out loud to a web-newbie, or when you advertize it in any medium that is not the web, it becomes much more coherent. The extra purposeless slash at the end becomes ludicrous somehow. What do you think?
Tags: design • web
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Friday, July 1, 2005
I’ve been accused many times of being over-analyzing. I’m also very self-critical, but as a not-so-strange dichotomy perhaps, I have a very high opinion of myself. Keep this in mind while you read this. The prevalance of the ‘I’—while perhaps normal in a blog—I’ve tried to keep to a minimum exactly because I realize this tendency in myself: to rant, and after a while, it gets intensely boring indeed.
Nevertheless, some things just have to be said. (Heavy hints and references follow).
A recipe for some personal pain: start with helping people. Add to it people who weren’t helped, or due to some reason, cannot be (let’s call them the unhelped). The unhelped feel left out, and they too want a piece of the pie. However at times, due to many unforseen circumstances, doling out that pie becomes impractical or impossible—sometimes, the kind of people who were helped before (or people even more deserving) cannot be now. Assuming of course, that I’m the person who helps people, and assuming again that I have a perfectly altruistic motive (I do not), and assuming correctly that I try to help people and not hurt them, when the unhelped starts making a hue and cry about the loss of their deserved help, I’ll find an apt time and call it quits. Everyone would be back to a harder regime which brooks no appeal.
Nobody deserves compassion or help. But when I bend the rules, I do so on a bit of personal risk, and I’d do the same for anybody who approaches me. Even now, after all this hulala.
Tags: chaff
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