Archive for February 2008
Received what I was waiting for
At last this Monday, Rachel brought in the Numark console that was with her all the while. I though that I can try it over the weekend but unfortunately I am going on a bike ride to Nirmal City on Saturday. So I think I will have to wait and take a day off during the week. I unboxed it and set it up and the work machine, installed the drivers but looks like the Controller was made with Numark Cue in mind. All the controls are arranged mainly for the Cue software. I tried to map the Traktor DJ Studio but with not much lunk. At last I found the controls map on their website for the full version of TRaktor. I think I will take some time on the weekend and try it with the TRaktor software. Cos Traktor is something that I am very used to.
Anyway, let me get some breathing space and I shall put up the first video of my setup.
Get a beer till then
Creation on Lunch table(Pindey ka Anda)
This is what happens when you finish lunch sooner than your friends.
Click on the image to see the full resolution.
Let me tell you the ingredients.
> 1 egg yolk which acts as the base(mash it well).
> Add some sugar syrup from a rasgulla and mash it again.
> Add some dal from neighbours plate
> Add some Chicken gravy
> Mix everthing really well and mould in desired shape.
> Add some Salt and Pepper to taste
> Garnish with a well chewed chicken bone.
Share any recipes that you have of such kind and together we can open up a restraunt
A killer Anti-Vista Graphic
Things you can do on Linux but not on a Mac or Windows PC
Was going through this article and found something that really interested me. This is a short list of some of the things that you can do on a Linux machine but not on a PC or Mac.
1. Upgrade to the newest version legally and without paying money
2. Have the latest version of the operating system run faster than the previous version on the same hardware
3. Easily install and run different graphical interfaces if I don’t like the default setup
4. Install twenty programs with one command
5. Have the system automatically update all my installed programs for me.
6. Install the same copy of my OS (Ubuntu) on multiple computers without worrying about license restrictions or activation keys
7. Give away copies of the operating system and other programs that run on it without breaking any laws, governmental or ethical or moral, because it was all intended to be used this way
8. Have full control over my computer hardware and know that there are no secret back doors in my software, put there by malicious software companies or governments
9. Run without using a virus scanner, adware/spyware protection, and not reboot my computer for months, even when I do keep up with all of the latest security updates
10. Run my computer without needing to defragment my hard drive, ever
11. Try out software, decide I don’t like it, uninstall it, and know that it didn’t leave little bits of stuff in a registry that can build up and slow down my machine
12. Make a major mistake that requires a complete reinstallation and be able to do it in less than an hour, because I put all of my data on a separate partition from the operating system and program files
13. Boot into a desktop with flash and effects as cool as Windows Vista on a three year old computer…in less than 40 seconds, including the time it takes me to type my username and password to login
14. Customize anything I want, legally, including my favorite programs. I can even track down the software developers to ask them questions, contribute ideas, and get involved in the actual design/software writing process if I want to
15. Have 4+ word processor windows open working on papers, listen to music, play with flashy desktop effects, have contact with a largely happy community and have firefox, instant messaging, and email clients all open at the same time, without ever having had to beg someone for a code to make my os work, and without the system running so slow it is useless
16. Use the command “dpkg –get-selections > pkg.list” to make a full, detailed list of all software I have installed, backup my /etc and /home directories on a separate partition, and you are able to recover your system any time, easily
17. Run multiple desktops simultaneously, or even allow multiple users to log in and use the computer simultaneously
18. Resize a hard disk partition without having to delete it and without losing the data on it
19. Use the same hardware for more than 5 years before it really needs to be replaced…I have some hardware that is nearly 10 years old, running Linux, and still useful
20. Browse the web while the OS is being installed!
21. Use almost any hardware and have a driver for it included with the operating system…eliminating the need to scour the internet to find the hardware manufacturer’s website to locate one
22. Get the source code for almost anything, including the OS kernel and most of my applications
Google rumoured to team up with Dell to launch Android powered phone
I still remember when Android was announced by Google in November, the shares just rose like crazy. One of the fastest growths in the history of Google. But of late its taken a lower end and we are not hearing much about it. Google wanted to show to the world what Android is capable of and would be a really strong competitor to the iPhone.
Just today I was going through one of these articles on the internet and it is rumoured that Google might team up with Dell and the Dell phones would come preloaded with Android. Although Android is under heavy development, it is said that we might be able to have a working model till the end of this year. Dell has been in the PDA business before and it certainly has Know How on how mobile phones are built. Combine Dell’s Hardware expertise and Google’s Engineers and you have a winner at your hands.
All excited about my Numark(did not receive yet)
Just today I paid off the credit card bill of about 13 grand something tha tI spent towards the Numark total control and DJIO that I shipped to Rachel. She said she is arriving in Hyd on 26th Feb. I just cant wait anymore. I think I will start taking this practise seriously as well. Its better to doing nothing but drinking.
As a band(DTuned) we have stopped jamming. The others dont find time at all although I have all the time. But I will come up with something and record the guitars, bass solos and drums myself. All that Shoheb will have to do then is sing. This way, I am sure we can come up with an mp3 that is worth distributing to people.
Later we can think about composing some more. But as for now, my music is on a low profile. Buying a house if on a higher priority. The next would be getting a job that pays me at least double of what I am getting now from Google(that is what my market value is). My fingers sucked today when I sat down to play. I feel like selling away all my guitars stuff and sticking to serious DJing,. At least I can make some money on the weekends. All the people who have heard me mixing house and electronic said that it sounded awesome. So I think its time to make some money.
When I get my Numark, I will start a range of videos demonstrating the lessons on Traktor with Numark. I am sure there are quite a few people who would be interested in watching them.
Sri Sailem trip(on a bike)
I have been waiting to do something like this from a long time. But finally Ricky who is coordinating the bikers club at Google made it possible. We planned to go to Sri Sailem which is kinda OK distance from Hyd(about 250kms).
We started at about 6am last Saturday and took the highway at about 6:30am. After that it was one of the best rides. Initially as it was early morning and being winter, my hands were frozen. But as the sun rose and things got a lil warmer, it was all worth it. We stopped by a waterfall on the way and spent about 2 hrs there. We ended up taking too many beaks on the way there. Thats the reason we reached there about 4pm.
After reaching there and having lunch, we realized that we had to look for accomadation as the one we booked had been given away as we arrived late. It took us almost 2+ hrs to find a dorm. But one we reached there, got fresh and went to a dhaba outside Sri Sailem.
One the way back, we started a lot later than planed. Thats why we got to drive only about 30 mins with the Sun up. The rest of the time it was pitch dark and to make things worser, it was ghati road. On one occasion I was not about to judge the distance and almost rammed into the railing of a cliff. I was really lucky to slow down in time. If I braked too hard, I would have skid off the road. But apart from this close call, things went pretty fine.
We reached Hyd about 1AM and I had to go the office the next morning. So I rushed back home and went to bed. I so goddamn cold, that I was shivering for the next hour inside my blanket. Thanks to the couple of gulps of whiskey that we had on the way, we were able to stay a lil warm.
Overall I would rate this trip a 8/10 for a first time trip as most of the trip went as planned. We now know how to plan the next trip which might be in mid Feb. I am eagerly waiting for it. If anyone has any suggestion of a place about 350-400 kms from Hyd that is worth riding to on a bike, do let me know.
