.some geeky stuff.

.animation.

we see a lot of amazing Flash animations, but this one takes the crown. watch the host speak, and what’s more, watch when she finishes speaking!

.multi-tasking.

i simply love the way Eclipse compiles and keeps track of your code, even as you type it. something similar to how word-processing programs highlight spelling errors while you type text, only much more complex. this is the way good programs should be designed; it should get out of the way of the user as much as possible, do house-keeping activities in the background, and keep information available at its finger-tips.

i am developing some programs in C++ these days, and i really miss a good IDE like Eclipse in this language. Java as a language is much more formal and structured than C++, and that makes it easier to write good IDEs for Java.

.telescope.

after much running around to find a telescope near my home, i have decided to build my own. i will keep updating my progress here.

.samsara.

and now, some uber-geeky stuff. i wanted to watch MI-3, but ended up watching this movie, for lack of tickets. and boy, i was lucky.

it’s fantastic! a must-watch! the direction, the story-telling, the photography, the acting, they are just amazing! though, i do think that the director could have avoided the explicit and dramatic scenes.

the story sort-of reminds me of Siddhartha by Herma Hesse. but in this film, the protagonist is not as wise as in the book. took me some time to digest that, esp since the protagonist appears wise in the beginning of the movie.

the message at the end seems to be (deceptively) simple:

you can’t keep holding onto certain things in life. you have to let go.. in order to hold onto them!

Tadiandmol

Here's an attempt to write a detailed, factual travelogue. (Should be easy since it was a short trek )

Tadiandmol is the highest peak in scenic Kodagu (which boasts of other popular peaks like Pushpagiri, Brahmagiri, etc). It is easy to scale it, as there is a road/footpath to the very top. The path winds through coffee, pepper and cardamom plantations. In dry season, the walk is about 2-3 hours long. I had been there once before, in February 2002. This time, I wanted to try it in monsoons. (The original plan was to go to Soma-male after Tadiandmol).

Route (places where we changed buses):
Bangalore->Madikeri->Napoklu->Kakabbe
Kakabbe->Virajpet->Bangalore

the grapes of wrath

after four months of grinding my way through, i finally finished reading The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. The title comes from this poem,

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
-Julia Ward Howe

It’s a story of the Joad family as it travels from dusty Oklahoma to the vineyards of California, in search of job opportunities. It’s a story of the thousands of people who travelled along those same paths, for the same reasons. It’s a story of endurance, of hope, and of hunger.

.travel.

.to the moon and back in three winks.

friday the 23rd June, about 6.30 am IST, the moon will occult the Pleiades star cluster. the moon will be just an 8% crescent (waning). and Pleiades occultation is supposed to be one of the most beautiful. three stars in a row blinking on and off.

can be seen with the naked eye, though binoculars would be better.
[details]

.to the Great Red Spot and Red Jnr.

a meeting of giants on 4th July. across the neighbourhood. need a 8″ or wider telescope. hrrmph. have to figure out some way.
[details]

.to lands unknown.

seen in some post, in some forum, on some website..

Come let us go a-travelling
For the world is all our own;
Half its paths are still untrod
And half its joys unknown.
The road that leads to winter
Will lead to summer too
For all roads lead to other roads
Where we may start anew.

can relate it to my treks and the book that i am reading [Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck]

Bisle, Edukmeri, Kumardhara

Day 01

Saturday, 3rd June

no-hassles start from Majestic bus-stand. ultra-smooth KSRTC buses are plying these days (Kannada Sarige). early-morning, 4.30 am, Sakleshpur bus-stand. mr eveready distributes snuff powder (supposedly for the leeches, but people don't wait for the leeches to use it). next connecting bus to Vangur. breakfast of chapatis, and little steaming idlis. a few hops later, in a blue moon-buggy, we are all set to trek.

walk through blankets of mists and carpets of glistening streams. 42 leeches die per minute. some succumb to snuff powder, some to vodka-blood, and some to BLD's shrieks. trek seems too easy; detours are taken just to spruce up things. on the top of a hill, all hell breaks loose. the skies open up, and colossal rain-drops pound on us. tarpaulin comes to the rescue. the pharaoh, the hippie and the granny are stranded on the side of the hill, alongwith the tarpaulin, some cheese and palak-paneer. rest of the group challenges the fury of the rain-gods alone. this incident somehow incites the rest of the group, and we are tied to a post and given 100 lashings.