From the Far Reaches of my Mind
The Arena Beacons to leave everything behind,
Escape Reality and enter a Warriors World,
Where I am Invincible, Immortal and A Quaker
Forever....
21dahsiN
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Quaker Forever
From the Far Reaches of my Mind
The Arena Beacons to leave everything behind,
Escape Reality and enter a Warriors World,
Where I am Invincible, Immortal and A Quaker
Forever....
Thursday, February 23, 2006
The Shock of Life !
I woke up at 7:45 as usual, went to the office at 8:45 as usual, started doing my work as usual, had lunch as usual. Came back and started my work. I was feeling a bit sleepy, so I tried to adjust myself in my chair a couple of times. I do this almost everyday to scare away the sleepiness in me. But today something really amazing happened. Its a very simple thing and most of us have experienced it. But this one was of more intensity, and more shocking.
You people might have guessed what had happened. I got up from my seat for the Afternoon tea, went to a team mate and tapped him on his shoulder and ZAP ! He screamed, so did I. He got angry on me and said, ,"that wazzunt funny at all, Now stop poking me with ur pen " . I said," I didn't have a pen, it was static electricity maybe."
He couldn't believe it. "How can someone hold static electricity of such high intensity and discharge it on ME !!" I said, "Forget it lets have coffee." By now we could see faces from different cubicles staring at two of us. We went at the coffee vending machines, I took my mug close to the machine and pressed a button and again ZAP !!! " Holy Shit ! What the hell is happening??", I just threw myself away from the machine, and wondered, am I not discharged yet ??
By now I was afraid to open the door too. Somehow I came back to my seat, and with some fear in the heart, touched a metal structure. Thank God, now I am fully discharged now. Wow what a experience. I have sustained many electrical shocks in my life including one from a electricity pole on a road. But this static stuff something really scary (for me at least) and as much funny too.
Now some science behind what had happened.
Static electricity is the imbalance of
positive and negative charges.
When I rubbed myself on the chair, I got negatively charged. And now when I started touching neutral, but good conductors of electricity, the charge began to flow and ZAP !
I smile again :)
21dahsiN
You people might have guessed what had happened. I got up from my seat for the Afternoon tea, went to a team mate and tapped him on his shoulder and ZAP ! He screamed, so did I. He got angry on me and said, ,"that wazzunt funny at all, Now stop poking me with ur pen " . I said," I didn't have a pen, it was static electricity maybe."
He couldn't believe it. "How can someone hold static electricity of such high intensity and discharge it on ME !!" I said, "Forget it lets have coffee." By now we could see faces from different cubicles staring at two of us. We went at the coffee vending machines, I took my mug close to the machine and pressed a button and again ZAP !!! " Holy Shit ! What the hell is happening??", I just threw myself away from the machine, and wondered, am I not discharged yet ??
By now I was afraid to open the door too. Somehow I came back to my seat, and with some fear in the heart, touched a metal structure. Thank God, now I am fully discharged now. Wow what a experience. I have sustained many electrical shocks in my life including one from a electricity pole on a road. But this static stuff something really scary (for me at least) and as much funny too.
Now some science behind what had happened.
Static electricity is the imbalance of
positive and negative charges.
When I rubbed myself on the chair, I got negatively charged. And now when I started touching neutral, but good conductors of electricity, the charge began to flow and ZAP !
I smile again :)
21dahsiN
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Cream Roll
I am not a school going kid now. I am not a college going student now. I am not a teenager undergoing graduation now. I am now earning money. All the (g)olden days are gone. Wish I was still a kid. Wish I could still enjoy the holidays after the unit tests and terminal exams. Wish I was innocent as I was in my childhood :-)
One day I was going back home after my office hours. I stopped at a bakery. The showcase displayed a variety of cakes, buns, sweets. But eyes were concentrated on something else. I saw Cream rolls. You may feel this is crazy, but its true. Some of you might even not know what a cream roll is. But for me, it was like finding something I had lost a decade ago. I still remember the childhood memories, Some children cry for sweets, chocolates, GEMS, Cadbury. But I cried to get a cream roll. I cried when my mom used to take me to the barber to have a hair cut. She promised to give me a cream roll. At school, Saturday used to be a half day. My mom used to pack cream roll in my tiffin.
Now those days were gone. Slowly even I forgot what a cream roll was. But when I had a bite of it at the bakery, Ummmmmmmm I cant describe the smile it brought on my face. I paid for the cream roll to the bakery guy. It was for 5 rs. 10 years ago, it costed me 1 rs 50 ps. Time has surely changed and prices have gone high. I couldnt find a proper pic. of a cream roll. Hope you get an idea about what food item i was talking about.
One day I was going back home after my office hours. I stopped at a bakery. The showcase displayed a variety of cakes, buns, sweets. But eyes were concentrated on something else. I saw Cream rolls. You may feel this is crazy, but its true. Some of you might even not know what a cream roll is. But for me, it was like finding something I had lost a decade ago. I still remember the childhood memories, Some children cry for sweets, chocolates, GEMS, Cadbury. But I cried to get a cream roll. I cried when my mom used to take me to the barber to have a hair cut. She promised to give me a cream roll. At school, Saturday used to be a half day. My mom used to pack cream roll in my tiffin.
Now those days were gone. Slowly even I forgot what a cream roll was. But when I had a bite of it at the bakery, Ummmmmmmm I cant describe the smile it brought on my face. I paid for the cream roll to the bakery guy. It was for 5 rs. 10 years ago, it costed me 1 rs 50 ps. Time has surely changed and prices have gone high. I couldnt find a proper pic. of a cream roll. Hope you get an idea about what food item i was talking about.
ATM
This blog is a tribute to the inventors of the ATM. Most of us think that the full form of ATM is "ANY TIME MONEY" Practically speaking it is right. You will find the correct full form of ATM as you read through this blog.
As is often the case with inventions, many inventors contribute to the history of an invention. In the case of the ATM, Don Wetzel invented the first successful and modern ATM in the USA, however he was not first inventor to create an ATM. In 1939, Luther George Simjian started patenting an earlier and not-so-successful version of an ATM.
An automatic teller machine or ATM allows a bank customer to conduct their banking transactions from almost every other ATM machine in the world. Don Wetzel was the co-patentee and chief conceptualist of the automated teller machine, an idea he said he thought of while waiting in line at a Dallas bank. At the time (1968) Wetzel was the Vice President of Product Planning at Docutel, the company that developed automated baggage-handling equipment. The other two inventors listed on the patent were Tom Barnes, the chief mechanical engineer and George Chastain, the electrical engineer. It took five million dollars to develop the ATM. The concept of the modern ATM first began in 1968, a working prototype came about in 1969 and Docutel was issued a patent in 1973. The first working ATM was installed in a New York based Chemical Bank. (dahsiN's note: There are different claims to which bank had the first ATM, I have used Don Wetzel's reference.)
"No, it wasn't in a lobby, it was actually in the wall of the bank, out on the street. They put a canopy over it to protect it from the rain and the weather of all sorts. Unfortunately they put the canopy too high and the rain came under it. (laughing) One time we had water in the machine and we had to do some extensive repairs. It was a walkup on the outside of the bank. That was the first one. And it was a cash dispenser only, not a full ATM... We had a cash dispenser, and then the next version was going to be the total teller (created in 1971), which is the ATM we all know today -- takes deposits, transfers money from checking to savings, savings to checking, cash advances to your credit card, takes payments; things like that. So they didn't want just a cash dispenser alone." - Don Wetzel on the first ATM installed at the Rockville Center, New York Chemical Bank from a NMAH interview.
The first ATMs were off-line machines, meaning money was not automatically withdrawn from an account. The bank accounts were not (at that time) connected by a computer network to the ATM. Therefore, banks were at first very exclusive about who they gave ATM privileges to. Giving them only to credit card holders (credit cards were used before ATM cards) with good banking records. Wetzel, Barnes and Chastain developed the first real ATM cards, cards with a magnetic strip and a personal ID number to get cash. ATM cards had to be different from credit cards (then without magnetic strips) so account information could be included.
Thank You Don and Luther for making us to shift from the cashier queues at the bank counter to longer queues in front of a ATM.
Monday, January 02, 2006
HNY06
It was 1st of Janauary. I had just come back from my hometown, the salary had been credited, and the best thing was, it was SUNDAY. After a noisy 31st december, i woke up late (as usual) . One of my friends called me and said he was coming to my house. i said, " Great ! Come fast, i've heard that there is a theatre near my house. It always shows the latest released movies at a very cheap rate. we will go there for a movie." My room mate also agreed. By the time my friend came and i got ready, it was 12:30. We thought, If we were to go for a movie, it would have started at 12:00 or before that. No point going there now. so we decided to have lunch at some hotel nearby the theatre, roam around and do a bit of shopping and reach the theatre by 2:30 pm.
We went to a hotel, had our lunch. Then we went to a ice-cream parlour. took a Jumbo ice-cream. There we came across some marathi girls, who spoke to us !! ( Finding marathi girls in Bangalore is rare, and they talking to you is still rare) With smiling faces, we left the place. We went to a T-shirt shop, did window-shopping and came out. At another shop, i bought two really cheap t-shirts.
It was 2 pm now. we decided to take an auto to the theatre thinking that :
1. If we reach early, we will be the first ones to get the ticket.
2. The next show must be at 3 pm and not 3:30 pm
3. If we dont get the ticket for the coming show, we will surely get a ticket for the evening show.
We took an auto and headed towards the theatre. The Auto driver said," 15 rs Lagega, meter nahi lagaunga". We said, ok. Take us to the theatre first. He raced his auto and took a sharp left. later he stopped his engine and cruised on the steep road. We cursed that auto driver. He was going to earn 15 rs without any efforts. Finally we approached the theatre. But wait ! where is the crowd ? There was not a single person moving towards the theatre. Huge Blue tarpaulin sheets covered the theatre premises. We peeped through the sheets to see that half of the theatre had collapsed and people were working on the other half. After moving a bit ahead, we learnt that the theatre was closed for renovation. "But i saw one movie last week here ! " my friend said. We looked at each others faces and cursed the theatre. Even the auto driver was laughing at us. We told him," Now put your meter on and take us back home " He agreed and took us back home. Even he felt pity of us and he didnt take the 15 rs we promised him to pay earlier.( again very rare in Bangalore)
"No more going out today, lets have a sound sleep on the first day of a new year" said my roomie. I was so depressed that i decided to go to the company and do some work.
What a nice start of a New Year !!
In case you are still wondering what does the topic mean: Happy New Year 06
We went to a hotel, had our lunch. Then we went to a ice-cream parlour. took a Jumbo ice-cream. There we came across some marathi girls, who spoke to us !! ( Finding marathi girls in Bangalore is rare, and they talking to you is still rare) With smiling faces, we left the place. We went to a T-shirt shop, did window-shopping and came out. At another shop, i bought two really cheap t-shirts.
It was 2 pm now. we decided to take an auto to the theatre thinking that :
1. If we reach early, we will be the first ones to get the ticket.
2. The next show must be at 3 pm and not 3:30 pm
3. If we dont get the ticket for the coming show, we will surely get a ticket for the evening show.
We took an auto and headed towards the theatre. The Auto driver said," 15 rs Lagega, meter nahi lagaunga". We said, ok. Take us to the theatre first. He raced his auto and took a sharp left. later he stopped his engine and cruised on the steep road. We cursed that auto driver. He was going to earn 15 rs without any efforts. Finally we approached the theatre. But wait ! where is the crowd ? There was not a single person moving towards the theatre. Huge Blue tarpaulin sheets covered the theatre premises. We peeped through the sheets to see that half of the theatre had collapsed and people were working on the other half. After moving a bit ahead, we learnt that the theatre was closed for renovation. "But i saw one movie last week here ! " my friend said. We looked at each others faces and cursed the theatre. Even the auto driver was laughing at us. We told him," Now put your meter on and take us back home " He agreed and took us back home. Even he felt pity of us and he didnt take the 15 rs we promised him to pay earlier.( again very rare in Bangalore)
"No more going out today, lets have a sound sleep on the first day of a new year" said my roomie. I was so depressed that i decided to go to the company and do some work.
What a nice start of a New Year !!
In case you are still wondering what does the topic mean: Happy New Year 06
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Crazy for cricket, Crazy in my head
I was crazy to stand in a 2 Km queue on a shivering cold morning 5 am just to get one ticket for the India South Africa match on saturday at Chinnaswamy stadium. Thank god i had my friend with me who was as much excited as me to get a ticket. No food, no water, we stood there for more than 6 long hours. Finally i got the ticket at 1 Pm. So did my friend. the ticket cost me 200 rs. and more than 6 hours of rush and congestion.
If the rush was soo much for a ticket, how many people will be there for the match ? Its a day/Night match and the best thing is , it is on saturday. so sunday we have for rest. Such a moment comes once in a decade. When i got the ticket and came to the company, showed it to my team mates.they were obviously jealous of me :) Yesterday one of them had said ,"There is no chance to get a ticket if u dont stay at the counter the whole night." Since 1 ticket per head was sold, there were enough tickets to get the queue moving and make me the proud owner of one ticket. If i plan to sell it in Black, i could earn 1500 rs easily, but i dont want to miss the first match of my life, that too INDIA-SOUTH AFRICA and a DAY/NIGHT on a SATURDAY. The seats for 200 rs are just steps, but the fun is double than the stands. If you get to see the match, try to spot me :) coz we will be right at the boundary line fences.
The day before this match, My company had sent me for a induction programme at a very expensive Hotel. I said, its better to go to a hotel for a free Lunch than sit idle in the company. Many of my friends had come to the hotel. As i stepped near the reception, i saw a bag which had 'Sachin Tendulkar' printed on it. I looked around, and i found many bags with the Indian cricketers names on them. I couldnt feel the ground beneath me. I knew why i was able to see the luggage. I said to myself, " What a luck i have brought with me !! The Indian Cricket team and Me in the same hotel !! " During the training i was in the conference room but my mind was wandering near the reception hoping to see the Master Blaster. As soon as there was a tea break, i ran down with my camera, Again what a luck ! the Bus was waiting at the entrance and all the cricketers were getting inside. I guess very few people get a chance to see the superstars soo close.
The team had just finished a quick meeting and were on their way to the stadium for practice. Couldnt believe, i saw all of them !! and the master blaster waved at us ! Oh, God (and my company) , thank you for this day !! Once the bus left, we all went back to the conference room, had another sleepy session...when we were about to leave the hotel, we saw bus coming straight to the hotel. "Damn, they are the South Africans !" someone shouted. I once again took my camera and began taking pics of the players.
What a day it was...and whats more, i had the ticket for the match tomorrow !! I went home, showed the pics to my friends....one of them said, " these snaps are of no use.......you are not there with any of the cricketers here" . Suddenly i realised what i had done......." Why didnt i realise this when i was taking snaps ??" where was my mind ??? i had a once in a lifetime chance to take snaps with the cricketers and i had blown it up. My friends started laughing at me............" You get snaps from some website and claim that u had clicked them......how do u prove that u were with the cricketers ? "
I had no answer for this....i kept cursing myself, i knew what a golden opportunity i had missed. I kept browsing through the photos to find myself somewhere, i could find nothing except a photo with their luggage. In case you are still laughing like my friends, see this photo . Believe me, i was there.
If the rush was soo much for a ticket, how many people will be there for the match ? Its a day/Night match and the best thing is , it is on saturday. so sunday we have for rest. Such a moment comes once in a decade. When i got the ticket and came to the company, showed it to my team mates.they were obviously jealous of me :) Yesterday one of them had said ,"There is no chance to get a ticket if u dont stay at the counter the whole night." Since 1 ticket per head was sold, there were enough tickets to get the queue moving and make me the proud owner of one ticket. If i plan to sell it in Black, i could earn 1500 rs easily, but i dont want to miss the first match of my life, that too INDIA-SOUTH AFRICA and a DAY/NIGHT on a SATURDAY. The seats for 200 rs are just steps, but the fun is double than the stands. If you get to see the match, try to spot me :) coz we will be right at the boundary line fences.
The day before this match, My company had sent me for a induction programme at a very expensive Hotel. I said, its better to go to a hotel for a free Lunch than sit idle in the company. Many of my friends had come to the hotel. As i stepped near the reception, i saw a bag which had 'Sachin Tendulkar' printed on it. I looked around, and i found many bags with the Indian cricketers names on them. I couldnt feel the ground beneath me. I knew why i was able to see the luggage. I said to myself, " What a luck i have brought with me !! The Indian Cricket team and Me in the same hotel !! " During the training i was in the conference room but my mind was wandering near the reception hoping to see the Master Blaster. As soon as there was a tea break, i ran down with my camera, Again what a luck ! the Bus was waiting at the entrance and all the cricketers were getting inside. I guess very few people get a chance to see the superstars soo close.
The team had just finished a quick meeting and were on their way to the stadium for practice. Couldnt believe, i saw all of them !! and the master blaster waved at us ! Oh, God (and my company) , thank you for this day !! Once the bus left, we all went back to the conference room, had another sleepy session...when we were about to leave the hotel, we saw bus coming straight to the hotel. "Damn, they are the South Africans !" someone shouted. I once again took my camera and began taking pics of the players.
What a day it was...and whats more, i had the ticket for the match tomorrow !! I went home, showed the pics to my friends....one of them said, " these snaps are of no use.......you are not there with any of the cricketers here" . Suddenly i realised what i had done......." Why didnt i realise this when i was taking snaps ??" where was my mind ??? i had a once in a lifetime chance to take snaps with the cricketers and i had blown it up. My friends started laughing at me............" You get snaps from some website and claim that u had clicked them......how do u prove that u were with the cricketers ? "
I had no answer for this....i kept cursing myself, i knew what a golden opportunity i had missed. I kept browsing through the photos to find myself somewhere, i could find nothing except a photo with their luggage. In case you are still laughing like my friends, see this photo . Believe me, i was there.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
This happens to everybody
It was wednesday morning and tomorrow was my company Picnic to a resort. I was very happily surfing the net inside my cubicle. Everything was going fine, and suddenly at 7:30 pm i get a mail from My team leader, XYZ- Failed !!! (FYI - XYZ-was a work assigned to me a month ago and i had finished it and submitted it for User testing.) It had come back and the deadline for it was saturday ! And on top of this i was supposed to go home friday night (14 hrs journey) to attend a marriage. The picnic was mandatory and i was supposed to go with the team, no excuses. I was totally out of my senses.
I asked one of my team mates what to do ? He calmly said,"Relax ! Dude, this happens, and had happened to me too ! worst than yours. And after all you are new to this project, they wont blame you." This gave me a bit of strength. But still, my legs were shaking. Today i was supposed to leave early and do a bit of shopping for my Mother before I leave for my hometown. Finally i decided to wait till 8:30, hoping to finish as much work as I can. Then go with a friend to do that bit of shopping.
At 8:30 i was not able to do it, now i was really frustrated. I got out of my office, decided 'Come what May, I will not Stay' called my friend, we both went to a shopping complex, but it was already 9 pm and it was about to get closed. After a bit of roaming, we came to a Metal mart. He too was in a hurry to close his shop. I saw a Bajaj OTG kept outside, i asked him the price of it. He made me listen to his Loooooooong cassette about the product. Without opening the box, i grabbed the OTG and said,"I'll take it."
The next day(Thursday) , got up at 5 am, went for the stupid trip.It wazzunt that stupid as i had supposed....My office girls were just like those in my college, but in the resort i saw many unknown faces (i dont know where do they hide when inside office ?!?) I forgot what had happened yesterday and enjoyed the resort facilities.(Since this is a sad post, i wont mention the happy times i had at the resort :) ). We came back at 9:30 pm fully exhausted. Went home, had food and slept......Tomorrow was going to be a veeeerryy loong day.
On Friday morning, i came to the office at 8 am (I generally come to office at 10 am) With empty eyes, i had a look at my Monitor and the papers besides them......"How am i gonna finish this all before 6 pm and catch my train ?" (remember i told you i was supposed to go home friday night ?) Anyway, my cubicalmate is a good buddy, he knew my dissapointment and promised me that if it doesnt finish before i leave, he will stay in the office on friday night and complete is before saturday. I thanked him, and started to work. (He was in the office before i entered at 8 am). By lunch time, he was ready with the solution. As the day progressed, my assigned task got solved, and finally my tension was relieved.
Now it was 2 pm and according to me the work was over. I gave it back for review. and took a deep breath. i wrote a mail to my collegue saying that i will not be available on saturday and sunday (though they are holidays, My team has to work 24x7 ) and gave him my submitted work details, got out of the office by 6:30, packed my bags and boarded the train. Now no more worries till monday. Reached home safely, attended the marriage, Mom was happy seeing the gift. On sunday evening again i was travelling back, monday will be a great day i said to myself.....i finished the tension filled work in time after all.
In the meeting i gave out my work status and it had already passed the testing stage. (Hush) Now my Team Leader said," You've Finished XYZ just in time, but what about ABC ? it has already crossed the deadline !"
Now tell me it was all my fault. How didnt i recognise that the deadline was so near ? My cubical mate said," Not to worry, I will do it for you." (He was there in the office at 8 am even today)
After the meeting was over, he said, " Did you notice the tension we have in our project?" I said," No i have not noticed the tension in the office, but i have surely seen the 'Everyday' you spend in the office. Thanks for the help."
I asked one of my team mates what to do ? He calmly said,"Relax ! Dude, this happens, and had happened to me too ! worst than yours. And after all you are new to this project, they wont blame you." This gave me a bit of strength. But still, my legs were shaking. Today i was supposed to leave early and do a bit of shopping for my Mother before I leave for my hometown. Finally i decided to wait till 8:30, hoping to finish as much work as I can. Then go with a friend to do that bit of shopping.
At 8:30 i was not able to do it, now i was really frustrated. I got out of my office, decided 'Come what May, I will not Stay' called my friend, we both went to a shopping complex, but it was already 9 pm and it was about to get closed. After a bit of roaming, we came to a Metal mart. He too was in a hurry to close his shop. I saw a Bajaj OTG kept outside, i asked him the price of it. He made me listen to his Loooooooong cassette about the product. Without opening the box, i grabbed the OTG and said,"I'll take it."
The next day(Thursday) , got up at 5 am, went for the stupid trip.It wazzunt that stupid as i had supposed....My office girls were just like those in my college, but in the resort i saw many unknown faces (i dont know where do they hide when inside office ?!?) I forgot what had happened yesterday and enjoyed the resort facilities.(Since this is a sad post, i wont mention the happy times i had at the resort :) ). We came back at 9:30 pm fully exhausted. Went home, had food and slept......Tomorrow was going to be a veeeerryy loong day.
On Friday morning, i came to the office at 8 am (I generally come to office at 10 am) With empty eyes, i had a look at my Monitor and the papers besides them......"How am i gonna finish this all before 6 pm and catch my train ?" (remember i told you i was supposed to go home friday night ?) Anyway, my cubicalmate is a good buddy, he knew my dissapointment and promised me that if it doesnt finish before i leave, he will stay in the office on friday night and complete is before saturday. I thanked him, and started to work. (He was in the office before i entered at 8 am). By lunch time, he was ready with the solution. As the day progressed, my assigned task got solved, and finally my tension was relieved.
Now it was 2 pm and according to me the work was over. I gave it back for review. and took a deep breath. i wrote a mail to my collegue saying that i will not be available on saturday and sunday (though they are holidays, My team has to work 24x7 ) and gave him my submitted work details, got out of the office by 6:30, packed my bags and boarded the train. Now no more worries till monday. Reached home safely, attended the marriage, Mom was happy seeing the gift. On sunday evening again i was travelling back, monday will be a great day i said to myself.....i finished the tension filled work in time after all.
In the meeting i gave out my work status and it had already passed the testing stage. (Hush) Now my Team Leader said," You've Finished XYZ just in time, but what about ABC ? it has already crossed the deadline !"
Now tell me it was all my fault. How didnt i recognise that the deadline was so near ? My cubical mate said," Not to worry, I will do it for you." (He was there in the office at 8 am even today)
After the meeting was over, he said, " Did you notice the tension we have in our project?" I said," No i have not noticed the tension in the office, but i have surely seen the 'Everyday' you spend in the office. Thanks for the help."
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
My First Blog
Hello people,
This is my first Blog. I am still not sure about what a blog means ! but still, i am just posting what all comes at my fingertips ! i am now a software engineer, but still i feel i am a kid, i love watching cartoons and playing computer games.
This is my first Blog. I am still not sure about what a blog means ! but still, i am just posting what all comes at my fingertips ! i am now a software engineer, but still i feel i am a kid, i love watching cartoons and playing computer games.
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