PINE USER'S MANUAL

Section IV:2.21:

>>Type p -i on your command prompt to check the new mails in your mail box.

>> Use the up / down keys (the ones with arrows drawn on them) to scroll over the mail list.

>>Press Enter (the big key on the right) to read the selected mail

>> If you intend to reply to a mail, simply press R.

>>A message will appear somewhere near the bottom of your screen saying "Include Original message in your reply?" Type Y/N as per your choice.

>> A second message will now appear:"Reply to all recepients?"


It is now, my dear user, In the name of the holy father/cow/prophet/whatever, please, puhleese,
type N.


repeat after me:
an N.

nahin.............!

AAAArgh!
Guess who's back.....


MAMU!

no title :(

On my way home everyday, I need to travel on the bombay highway and pass through an area called Ashoknagar. Although the highway is pretty narrow,The 'banks' on either sides of the road (the 'kuccha', as we'd say in hindi) stretch pretty far.
The left bank, right from the Lingampalii crossroads upto my colony (effectively 4-5km) is lined with slums.
There is a thin naala with water as black as ink and as thick as tar that runs in from of them, parallel to the road. A traveller has good reason to look nowhere but ahead while travelling on this road: If he looks left, he may often find himself being stared in the face by exposed bottoms dangiling precariously over the drainage.
As is true with most slums, infants and children are much more easier to spot than grown-ups, probably because those children who have grown up are often out in search of work, or simply because of the numbers in which the poor reproduce.
In the evenings, boys are seen quarelling, flying kites, picking noses, and mooning passers-by. Girls don't have a choice: the few that live are seen standing in long queues at the lone hand pump, queues which begin at the start of the day and will probably stretch into the night.
Some of them had set up tents in which they worked as iron-smiths, or as key makers.

I hated that route, and whenever possible, I avoided it.

Yesterday, on my way back, I noticed that the route was quiter that usual.
I dared to look left.

They were all gone. Brick and thatch were strewn all along. It was eerie, to look at silent houses whose top half had been broken off - empty rectanlges surrounded by now naked, knee high bricks.
Only one of the rectanglular patches had a wall inside it, marking the only house which until now had hid the secret of possesing two rooms. An unperturbed ganesha was seated upon it.
All roads are destined to be widened, you see.

Sometimes, it is necessary to remind ourselves of how lucky we are.
********************************************************************

I know this is late, but anyway....
Now that this sparse blog has legged a year's journey, it is time I list some of my favourites too.
The first post by smiley "....sounds like a fun idea...". Indeed.
Sir's random comments . Hilarious writing.
To the times, Badri's and Chomo's roads ahead, Sicca's photoblog and Sir the great . Badri's "so like... happy anniversary",into the twilight zone, Chomo's profile of badri, The post announcing turbo, sir and harry's win at iitk, Apoc&Troll (lol), and well, though technically incorrect , my comment on the aforementioned post.

1st Anniversary of "The Band"

Badri has written another post about an year of blogging. This is my review of the year gone by. Suddenly I realise how quickly time flies. An year ago, this blog had its first post by Smiley and it is suddenly today.

It has been through periods of prolonged dormancy, but I think it has served its purpose pretty well, as a record of things going on in our lives here at IIIT. Apoc has posted quite regularly and I have chipped in once in a while with my crappy posts. But the blog has been going on pretty smoothly.

The posts are a fairly accurate reflection of what goes on in our minds. Jimmy's posts are mostly of the neta type, Ganands' are thoughtful, Badris' are typical apocalyptic stuff. Sir is an honorary member who compensates for the lack of posts by providing the X-factor. Smiley writes rarely, but writes well. Smiley's post at the end of our first year in IIIT, is in my opinion, the best on this blog. I better not say anything about my posts.

So,here is a list of my favourite posts:

• The Dynamics of Change in a Homo - Sapien's Mood:Don't miss the comments by the potbelly.



• Random comments:Sir's only post



• To the time..:Smiley raaking raa!



• Blah by Troll



• The Road Ahead[Scene 1 , Take 2]:Historic post where Badri makes perfect sense



• _4poc_ & Troll:Latest and funniest

a year up!

may seem wierd to point this out, but this blog had its first post on the 3rd of march, 2005. a whole year, right to this day, of non-posting by everyone, and all of a sudden, im extra eager to highlight this fact? well, i'll steal this statement from i-dont-remember-who, who said that if you start something, no matter what it is, as long as you end up alive, it will be a year old on some or other day.

well, the only post-ers here have been sica (8 posts) and me (12 posts) with a few random posts (about 7) from ganand. supreeth managed to post just once. smiley didnt post anything after his initial flurry (of 3 posts). and troll has about two posts.

so, why did the idea of blogging first originate? all thanks to smiley, who now hates blogs as much as i hate orkut (which marginally surpasses my hatred for brinjal). the original motive was to "record" the fodu and the not-that-fodu times, over the four years. but now, this has degraded into another defunct "yahoo! group"-like endeavour. so, what next? some decent posts of the year (nominated by me :P)

smileys tribute
sica into blogging
supreeth's only post
troll the neta
ganand + senti post = :(
me + pseudo-senti post = ?
me kicking troll. badly.

camera mania :D
11 months old. exactly.

nothing else but links back to the same blog? lame, aye? well, what else can be done? jump around in glee and break my foot? celebrate by "bursting" cakes and eggs? smear it all over my CPU? give my monitor bumps? no??!

how about a nonsensical post?

->ap0c4lyp53

IIIT wins programming contest at IIT-K

Quoted below is a mail from Turbo.
"Sir(Dr.Anoop),

We are pleased to inform you that we stood first in the Programming
Contest at IIT-Kanpur today (25/02).

Thank You.

Yours Sincerely,

Sandeep Kumar
Ankur Jaiswal
Supreeth Achar"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I checked mail last night and found this bcced to me. This is FODU! Congrats to Sir, Turbo and Harry.

_4poc_ & Troll

Jimmy: give me a better word for interesting
apocalypso00: (to his messenger, ie)
apocalypso00: lemme think
Jimmy: as in "the absence of interesting books in/from? the library"
apocalypso00: u type real slow
apocalypso00: shame on ya
apocalypso00: engrossing?
apocalypso00: captivating? :P
apocalypso00: ah...
Jimmy: anything else>
apocalypso00: spellbinding? :D
apocalypso00: lets see....
Jimmy: not something superlative
apocalypso00: exciting?
apocalypso00: gripping?
apocalypso00: inquisitivity-inducing??
apocalypso00: "appealing to our tastes"?
apocalypso00: mesmerizing?
apocalypso00: cant think of any more :(
Jimmy: the point I'm tryig to make here is tht as a consequence of such whatever-ing books in the library.....

apocalypso00: gimma a min, i'll keep thinking
apocalypso00: "respected dean, two things", said jimmy narang, standaing tall
Jimmy: *absence od such books, that is
apocalypso00: "firstly, the new books procired by our library dont appeal to the general populace"

Jimmy: ah
Jimmy: wellpu, well put
Jimmy: *appealing*
apocalypso00: as an afterthought, the neta-like narang added "we are the people who read the books. we have our fingers on the pulses of what is new in the world of literature"

Jimmy: wah! wah! pray keep going...
apocalypso00: "so", jimmy continued, "i believe it would be in our best interests if WE the students would be given the right to select the books procured by the library"
apocalypso00: "of course", jimmy was quick to add, "i dont mean we get ALL the say"
Jimmy: I'm humbled by your ability to put in words so beautifully and effectively what i've been trying for the last hour

apocalypso00: "all we want is to be given some basic say in what books are procured" he said, as his voice was drowned in the thunderous applause
Jimmy: *sob* (wiping tears off)
apocalypso00: "not only will this improve the number of people who read books, but this will increase the number of people who go to the library", he added as the applause whithered off...

Jimmy: Im giving you a standing ovation right now...
Jimmy: wait....
Jimmy: eh??
apocalypso00: "after all, isnt that what the library is for? a place not just for academic books, but an oasis of literary knowledge in this fast paced world of e-books and messenger"

apocalypso00: "so" jimmy concluded, "we would be much indebted if we are given a reasonable amount of say on this topic"
apocalypso00: *puts pen-cap back on the pen, and cracke knuckles*
apocalypso00: "you said two things", said the dean
apocalypso00: "go ahead, whatever-your name-is", he added, "please, dont end your moving speech so abruptly..."

apocalypso00: as the deans voice trailed off, and as all the heads in the room turned to look at the imperious jimmy narang, and as students and faculty alike waited with bated breath for jimmy to continue his oration.

apocalypso00: "oh that!", jimmy said
apocalypso00: (with a voice of quiet contemplation)
apocalypso00: hey u thr?
Jimmy: yes.... YES!
apocalypso00: or am i chatting with the monitor
apocalypso00: k
Jimmy: PLEASE CONTINUE!
apocalypso00: as jimmy stood tall in his 6 foot 2 frame to reach the climax of his wonderous speech,....

apocalypso00: the fact that he was clearing his throat raised all sky-high expectations in the occupants of the room...

Jimmy: Aaaaand.......?
apocalypso00: (i know, bad line)
Jimmy: (Even I'm waiting with baited breath to know what happened next)

Jimmy: Hmmm... are you having a writer's block?
apocalypso00: then, jimmy got down on one knee, turned toward raghuram and said, " raghuram, you are the one person i want to spend the rest of my life
with.". the whole room was stunned to silence. taking a ring out of his pocket, jimmy said "Raghuram, will you marry me?"

apocalypso00: :P
apocalypso00: :D
apocalypso00: :)
apocalypso00: :))
apocalypso00: =)
apocalypso00: ;)
apocalypso00: "rofl:
Jimmy: BAH!
apocalypso00: :rofl:
apocalypso00: not bad, eh?
Jimmy: bugger
apocalypso00: the first part?
apocalypso00: :D
Jimmy: bloody, bloody bugger
apocalypso00: all in one go :_
apocalypso00: :)
apocalypso00: this is the art of writing
apocalypso00: we expert writers call it an "anticlimax"
apocalypso00: :D

that s(t)inking feeling?

IIIT as an institute. nearly eight years old. but what has the institute achieved? a reasonable list could be drawn up, but im too lazy to do that. lets say, we have a decent name among ppl who write aieee, and we have some basic brand value as an institute. not much more than that surely? oh shit, wait-a-min, dawg, we aint here for a wee-little vacation, are we? what is the price we pay for being in this institute?

1. 80k-odd per annum (while my friends back home spend some 30k on education)

2. living in a hostel fourteen hours away from home (frankly, i couldnt care less where i lived, and i kinda like hostel-life, but maybe thats just me)

3. staying in a badly fcuked up city like hyderabad (atleast for me)

4. sitting through tooth-numbingly-boring classes by *ahem* good faculty

5. listening to and putting up with the research-institute tag they seem to over-emphasize on

6. no canteen. get it? NO CANTEEN!! *wails loudly, breaking monitor*

7. *replaces monitor* the exhilaratingly-interesting campus life

8. not just staying in a dumb city like hyderabad ( where you dont get buses after 11 . is this even a city?), but staying miles away from something which closely resembles civilization).

9. not just doing all their stupid assignments, but putting up with the crappy grading scheme. now, top that off with attending nearly all classes AND listening to the *ahem* esteemed dean telling us not to waste time, you just have to wonder whether all this is really worth it.

so, is it worth it? no, not the city. hyderabad sucks. unconditional. i mean the stay in iiit. well, look at the recent placement-fiasco (although i know very little on that). seen their vision-2010 or whatever-it-is? add that to the apathetic faculty, and all this gets so terrifying medusa would have fits. *ack*

now why did i come here? to iiit? my state rank (not AP thankfully) was decent enough in aieee to probably get electronics in NIT trichy (some guy below me got it, i guess) or worst case suratkal. so, why did i choose iiit? well, there were three major reasons - single room, placements and hyderabad. (i thought hyderabad was a city)

while the initial euphoria of not rooming with anyone else subsided, and when the totally wrong impression i had of hyderabad evolved to what it is now, i was left with just one reason - placements. of course, now, i could add quite a few more reasons. but then, for each reason i could give for being here, i could probably give two why this place sucks.

so, what? just grin and bear it? no idea. either noone really seems to care much or they live in a different dimension to me. and besides what can be done? im still waiting for an sfis to talk about the grading system. nothing can really be done about the (lack of) faculty. the canteen ideas never seem to take off, i dont even know who is on the campus life council. assuming there is one, of course. hyderabad wont change. so, i'll just have to wait for some three years to get away from here (less than three if i can get rid of the MS thing i have to do)

but im not some ungrateful prick (i mean the ungrateful part). the institute does, of course have it advantages, but thats beside the question. the question is -

was all this worth it? or just a mistake?

->ap0c4lyp53

PS : whats wrong with inserting a little link, aye? it helps my page rank on google, i guess.

blah

In an outrageous move yesterday, the central government unanimously (390something : 1 votes) passed an amendment under which, reservation (for SCs/ STs /and the likes) becomes a compulsion even for unaided private educational institutions.

What the F.

At this rate, it may not be long before even the fees gets regulated.
And if you actually think about it, it makes no sense to enforce reservation seats in pvt colleges without enforcing a regulated fee, because the whole point behind the reservation idea is to uplift the lower classes, and if the SC/ST bugger (Disclaimer: Bugger not because of being SC/ST, but because of gaining admission without merit) is able to pay the real fees, then it means that their family has already been financially uplifted.
Ironically, While each year our politicos add more and more reservations, The constitution itself states that all reservations ought to be brought to an end by 1960!
You will not be surprised to know then, that there are plans to introduce reservation even in private COMPANIES, and if this happens, not only will all the foreign companies be driven away, but as Premji said, even the Indian companies will have to scout for talent in better places, where the governments are less moronic.
********
The job of a salesman is perhaps the least enviable jobs of all. (To think of it, the job of the fellow who performs all those stool tests comes close, but anyway..) .
This morning, while I was sitting in the hall downstairs, the doorbell rang and there he was, another one of them, with a black bag slung over his shoulder, and a perennial smile plastered to his face.
I sat there, waiting, hoping that somebody else would get the door. The man meanwhile, noticed me sitting on the sofa, cried out SIR! and without waiting, opened the gate, came inside and stood at the doorstep.
Without getting up from the sofa, I said:"What?", hoping that my face would be enough to drive him away.
"Sir, this.. our product.. specially imported from china...", he said, as he began fishing for something in his bag.
I sighed and got up, but even as I started to walk towards him, the man's smile began to wane, and so did his confidence.
Finally, he took out a blue cardboard box but before showing it to me he said:
"err sir, is there anyone eles in the house..."
"no."
"err.. mother, father... sist.."
"NO"
"umm,.. sir, tis not exactly for you sir... but anyway.."
and he showed me the box.
On it were drawn two foot-soles, which had some accupressural projections and some black dots here and there,
and the caption said "For increasing your height and growing taller"

Poor Bastard.

"toga, toga, toga"...

... as the whatever-they-were mythical creatures would dance? the satyrs, i think they were. servants of dionysus, if i remember right. the greek god of wine and the vine. atleast it was so in Zeus (the game :D) if memory serves right.

but i aint in a mood to celebrate. say why? hasnt a sem just ended? isnt that reasion enough to celebrate? fcuk, NO!! cos the next sem has started already, crappy, aint it? not the sem (that too, if you think of it), but i mean life. apart from the fact that im getting even more addicted to the campus, and that i have a huge backlog on my project with a strict deadline (and the fact that my grades are going down real bad), the problem is, im still in a "holiday" mood. the "holiday" mood is unique in that i actually feel like sleeping, dont like sitting on my comp much, and want to laze around all day, doing absolutely nothing.


or am i just getting frustoo??

so theres this CSE course called "graphics". if timings of either graphics or LCS change (thus enabling me to take graphics), me and smiley have a bet - i'll kick his sorry a$$ in the course and he swears by his programming skills, saying he'll TRY to kick me :)). i know, a geeky bet, but thats the best we could come up with.

"the band of bloggers" seems to be pretty "activity"-free, especially given that sicas and my blogs have had more posts than this blog. despite the six-fold increase in no of members. this url is reserved at wordpress, and so is another one :)) just in case, ie. mayb i should stop using ap0c4lyp53 and make it p4r4n01d...

this reminds me of a yahoo community of my ex-schoolmates. on some random day, some random guy whom i dont remember (i swear officer, i havent seen him before in my life. take my word for it...) sends a post saying, in as many words, "is this community dead? i think it is, but lets revive it. come on somebody, post something". then, there will be a flurry of mails, say some dozen or so, which say, effectively "we concur". and so the group cruises along merrily until, at some other random point in its short life, the posts stop... no1 knows why, every1 starts writing a mail, and then goes "eh... fcuk it" (quoting russel peters, he rocks!!). so no post makes it out, any every1 waits for the other guy to post. this zero-post weeks continue till some other arbit-chutiya (whom i dont know again) posts the same post ... and the cycle starts all over again.

guess im the arbit-chutiya now :D

[ Linkin Park - Figure .09 ]

Nothing ever stops all these thoughts
and the pain attached to them
Sometimes I wonder why this is happenin'
It's like nothing I could do would distract me when
I think of how I shot myself in the back again
'Cause from the infinite words I could say I
Put all the pain you gave to me on display
But didn't realize
Instead of setting it free I
took what I hated and made it apart of me

----------
[esc]:wq ap0c4lyp71c_post[enter]