There is not much I can write. I’m weary. I’ll probably go sleep. When I wake up I’m sure a week would have passed.

Ramji

Thanks…
Thank you… 
Same to you(!!)..
Ya right..
Come on you already wished me…
Today’s my birthday. And I think you should probably wish me?

Rest assured those are the things I’ll be saying a lot tomorrow. And ofcourse it’ll be lovely to hear ppl wishing me. According to me, your birthday is the one day where you get to play the celebrity. Except those who are already a full time celebrity! Right so, ppl have been asking me “wtf do I get you for your b’day”.  To make the task of all those ppl easier, I present to you my LIST. Now my LIST is definitely not a birthday wishlist even though the title might make you think so. It is just a LIST of things that I need at this point of time. And it’s c-e-r-t-a-i-n-l-y-n-o-t-e-x-h-a-u-s-t-i-v-e. 

• 12-month subscription of a mag such as The Week/Reader’s Digest
• A 2GB SD Card for my phone
• Completely explain to me the TCP/IP protocol stack(and implementation)
• A small bedside alarm clock with light to see the time @ night
• Let me drive your car

Ramji

This blog post is entirely about my friend Nikhil.

Ahhh. Now there he is! You see, a great tragedy occurred to him on 3oth September/October/November 2008. I honestly don’t know which day it was, but it was Nikhil’s birthday. Well, he did ask for a pen drive as his b’day gift. And it turned out we gave him a “pen + drive”. ( Pen + Drive = A big mokka to remind him never to ask for his birthday gift himself unless asked ) And he got a bit sad due to that and been sad ever since. 

But he’s been good to me and to a lot of you guys I believe. So I feel its only deserving that we all put together a small amount and get him a pen drive. So if you are willing to contribute(or not) just add a comment with your name You’ll be contacted  

P.S. The fact that you got this link through Nikhil himself is entirely…. Just forget that he told you about it. 

And here’s what we are talking about

Ramji

P.S. Thanks to Dilip for bringing it to my notice! And it is pure coincidence that my previous post was about Apple’s Safari

But then since I liked Safari’s font rendering technology so much, I just couldn’t give up on it. I downloaded Firefox 3 on “Download Day.” And to my surprise I found something strange about Safari and Firefox. When I have both Safari and Firefox open side by side, I don’t get the problems I usually get with Safari and the missing server. Also if I login into Gmail using Firefox, I’m able to use the same through my Safari. I wonder what kind of mysterious bond is shared by the two. I guess there might be some sharing of cache memory or cookies ( or whatever technical jargon I’m currently ignorant of ) But fact is they both are working great. But I’m using Safari ofcourse. Apart from its font rendering, some of its other merits are

• Simple user interface. Once you use it, it’s really the easiest there is.
• The menus and address bars occupy very little space, leaving the major portion of your screen free to display actual webpage content.
• The bookmarks window is really good and simple. Not only does it automatically get the previous bookmarks from your already installed browser, it makes organizing your bookmarks a breeze. 
• The auto complete feature for webpage addresses includes bookmarks as well. This is a feature that I haven’t seen in many browsers. When you type your URL in the address bar, it automatically lists similar entries found in the bookmarks(as opposed to entries in the History which most browsers normally display)

Apart from that it has all the usual features of a webpage. I’ll give you a few screen shots to give you a glimpse of what I’m actually talking about.

Safari Sample Webpage (Click to view full picture)

Firefox Sample Webpage (Click to view full picture)

Opera Sample Webpage (Click to view full picture)

So if anyone happens to know why this actually happens, do drop in and post a comment telling us all about it.

Download Link for Safari ( for Windows)

Update on 10th July 2008

I found this really cool blog about Safari and its really good features. Do check it out. It’s comprehensive with a lot of screenshots. http://destraynor.com/serendipity/index.php?/archives/151-9-things-Firefox-should-steal-from-Safari.html

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Link to this blog post: http://shadowspeak.wordpress.com/2008/07/09/what-connects-apples-safari-and-firefox/

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So I have decided to take my blogging experience just a bit further and have started to blog professionally on a popular blog. And I’m now an active blogger at Mutiny.in, one of India’s premier blogs exclusively on Indian issues. I have been there probably a little more than two weeks but it has been a revelation. To write blogs professionally is very easy once you start typing with your heart rather than your hand. The kind of issues that I usually have it bottled up in me have found a new outlet through Mutiny. And it is amazing to see the kind of debates that go on there. Do check it out! (especially if you are an Indian reading this) And to see my page on the Mutiny check it out here.

Watch it on Google Video here

Ramji

But then I wasn’t one to give up so easily. I started searching for any live streams that might be on offer on the Net. Infact there were many of them – Sopcast, TV Ants etcetera. But problem is my broadband internet speed is about 256kbps which is not suited for watching live streams. So I gave up on seeing the Euros…………………………….. until today!!! I finally found a stream link that gives me uninterrupted streaming of all matches of Euro. Just watched Spain edge it past Sweden. Unlucky Sweden, but good thing Spain are showing signs of a lack of killer instinct. Man, I want them to face Netherlands in the Semi’s or Finals and get thrashed! Yeah I support the Netherlands. Been supporting them ever since World Cup 2006 where I was just drooling over their play. This time they are showing some real spirit and drive. Hope they win it. 

Btw here’s the stream link is below. I honestly do not know if its illegal or anything. But then who cares. I’m not Scobliezer

Stream Link
 
Ramji

And cost, it does. Even if the Cancer Institute does provide free treatment the medicines could cost you a lot. But still its probably one-tenth of what the private hospitals charge. So, there I went, to see him. It happened by chance. My only task was to pick up my mom once she had completed her visit there. She was there to see one of my family who has had a sudden unexpected attack of Throat Cancer. Read that as unexpected discovery because the disease had been there for about 3 years. Ultimately it’s when you don’t give much importance to your own body these things happen. So, coming back, I just had to pick up my mom. Simple job. Oh what a coward I would have been if I had done only that! What I felt there is unspeakable in terms of words, and “un-typeable” in this blog. An experience of a life-time. The entrance has a temple – a place of hope. But one look at the persons sitting lost there, you realize they have very little hope if any. I move on.

I went inside the block where he was admitted. Again it was a bit of shock. I ashamedly admit that I haven’t gone to a Government Hospital before. So having got used to those cosy private hospitals with their clean tiled floors and air conditioned rooms, this was a place which was down to earth to put it exactly. It had simple things with simple people around. There was even a small B/W Tv to watch for the persons staying with the patients. Yes it wasn’t sparkling clean but it surely wasn’t dirty. It didn’t smell of those sick-sweet hospital fragrances but it didn’t stink either. There weren’t any air conditioners nor would anyone demand for that here. For if they could afford that, they wouldn’t be here in the first place. I realized it wasn’t a place of clinical efficiency which guarantees you absolute certainty of recovery. It was rather a place of survival. A place where they use the Government funds to provide the patients with a bare minimum- medicine, food a comforting bed and most of all a way back to their lives. People here fight to survive. There are no easy ways here. No so called “pain-killers.” It’s you and the disease and you fight it albeit with some help from the medicines. 

I could see that when I saw him. He was a broken man. He had gone through a lot in his whole life and now this. The last 3 months had been hell for him I guess. If I probably hadn’t gone there and seen him today, I would never have forgiven myself. His happiness on seeing me shone in his face. And I got that kind of feeling that even if my life ends now, I had probably done something worthwhile with it. He was in pain and couldn’t talk. His throat was in stitches. He couldn’t stop his tears as they came. His sheer despondency was obvious. He was probably wishing he could run away from all this and start a new life. I stayed for a while and talked some strength into him hopefully. What more can I do? I’m not God. Who knows he might be sleeping soundly right now because of my visit, the thought of which makes me sleep ever so sound. 

I don’t know why I wrote this in my blog. I had to get it out. It was such an experience that I don’t want it to fade away in time from my memory. I want it to remain here forever in this blog and it will. It’s a happy life that most of us reading this blog enjoy in so many ways. A very lucky life removed from all the possible suffering that may befall us. May we appreciate it and cherish it forever!!

Ramji

To all those people whom I mentioned before, I swear I am as eager to shake your hands as you all do. I feel as much happiness as you do. And each and every wish – both told and untold- makes me immensely happy.

…..Article will be completed soon…..