Any like minded geek would have heard of star wars, seen it, worshipped yoda and lucas. The movie acts at different levels, playing out human relationships and the ever prevalent fight between good and evil. There would definitely have been times when people have referenced the death star, the "may the force be with you" in situations totally unrelated to the empire or the jedi knight.
I have really enjoyed the star wars music, humming "da dada da daaa, pom papapum". This music evokes emotions in humans which can range from "oh no not that song" to "wow" to "what the hell is that?". Surmising these emotions in a word can never be done, so I shall let you see the magic that this music can create.
Recraeted by the vienna philharmonic - the star wars theme in all its glory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9xrmThlsOA
(p.s.: look at the number of people sitting to watch and listen to this, cross cultural, cross planetary, and simply superb)
06 October, 2010
03 October, 2010
The amazing fractals
Fractals are a intricate design pattern generally self repetitive and aesthetically pleasing. They are things you see in everyday life, snowflakes, coast lines, fruits. Nature likes to deal with fractals and why not considering there is such symmetry.
Being introduced to fractals in my course and learning about the pioneering fractals has been pleasurable. Learning that Turing was really interested in reaction diffusions for morphogenesis and made some pioneering contributions has only increased my admiration of the queer genius.
Some of the images do look like the Rorschach test replications, they seem nice, generally colourful in a hue of blue, yellow or red. Turing was trying to set up a mathematical or state model explanation for the generation of patterns in nature. How does a cheetah get its dots, how does a zebra get its stripes and the general things common people never ponder over.
It is amazing how a small set of rules and parameters generate the most intricate patterns. You can have a look at them here : http://cgjennings.ca/toybox/turingmorph/. There is a nice applet which animates the whole process.
Being introduced to fractals in my course and learning about the pioneering fractals has been pleasurable. Learning that Turing was really interested in reaction diffusions for morphogenesis and made some pioneering contributions has only increased my admiration of the queer genius.
Some of the images do look like the Rorschach test replications, they seem nice, generally colourful in a hue of blue, yellow or red. Turing was trying to set up a mathematical or state model explanation for the generation of patterns in nature. How does a cheetah get its dots, how does a zebra get its stripes and the general things common people never ponder over.
It is amazing how a small set of rules and parameters generate the most intricate patterns. You can have a look at them here : http://cgjennings.ca/toybox/turingmorph/. There is a nice applet which animates the whole process.
11 September, 2010
Back to the roots
Its been a long hiatus from writing, and writing again feels great. The last few months have been really a foot on the pedal with no brakes for me. I have ventured upon life in a graduate school, which is not the easiest because you have to be on the edge, multitasking, working hard and mostly keeping sane.
The last month has been a real adventure of sorts, getting to meet a lot of people, some with matching wavelengths and some from a different planet. Running around pillar to post getting myself organized, running up my google calendar to maximize my free time. Sometimes it turns out technology actually slows you down, but that a entire debate for another day. I have been a little lucky, coming in tired and landing without any jetlag. A week at my uncles place grounded in Indian tradition. A good friend who took out an unseen person to dinner.The really small things that helped me in a new environment.
Now that I am almost settled in and opened my cobwebbed blogger account, I realized its been more than 2 months since I had posted anything. So I decided to update my activities and start posting more about my studies here, general interests, debates and other myriad stuff which are generally of no interest to me. (pun intended). No goals set on the blogger time limit in my calendar for sure.
The last month has been a real adventure of sorts, getting to meet a lot of people, some with matching wavelengths and some from a different planet. Running around pillar to post getting myself organized, running up my google calendar to maximize my free time. Sometimes it turns out technology actually slows you down, but that a entire debate for another day. I have been a little lucky, coming in tired and landing without any jetlag. A week at my uncles place grounded in Indian tradition. A good friend who took out an unseen person to dinner.The really small things that helped me in a new environment.
Now that I am almost settled in and opened my cobwebbed blogger account, I realized its been more than 2 months since I had posted anything. So I decided to update my activities and start posting more about my studies here, general interests, debates and other myriad stuff which are generally of no interest to me. (pun intended). No goals set on the blogger time limit in my calendar for sure.
12 July, 2010
The new canon SD 780 IS - my second love
Its black, hardly bigger than a credit card and takes great photos. This is the new canon sd 780 IS. A wonderfully good camera, which trespasses the bounds on size and compactness. I would have wanted a few more features and a better ISO rendering, but with what I paid for it, this seems very good.
The portability is so good, it will fit into the back of any jeans or slide into any pouch. I would not say best picture quality I have seen, but it does have a nice macro. Shooting in auto in low light conditions is a definite no-no, the flash turns on and ruins the effects on any background. The High ISO ranges need a tripod and some real skill to get decent images.The zoom does not range long, and the digital zoom for once is not half bad, though I would never resort to it personally.
This would detract most of the users from this camera, but for a on the go snap shooter this is better than anything in the market.
Looking forward to unleash the amateur photographer in me.
Looking past differences
Generation gap, cultural divide, intellectual gap and religious divide. As I list out these very common catch phrases I can only see the one clear fact in front of me; the petty differences that divide and segregate us humans.
The juvenile behaviour you sometimes see from the best of adults (an uncommon phrase used to describe the exhaustively composed individuals) surprises you to the point of awe and gape. Silly people fighting with auto drivers, scolding people on the road, making profane gestures and signs. I would say even the best of us are caught unawares. These are the common paradigms we come across in our daily lives. We start to shout and honk at people who are driving slowly on the road. We look at a temple and immediately bow down to the lord, sometimes even remove our slippers or shoes before doing that, and if we are driving slow our cars down .to see the lord. This is acceptable and the norm, but if someone slows down to find parking or drop off someone we are irate and annoyed. I have seen many a times people pass comments on the auto drivers as being illiterate brutes, a substantial generalization and demeaning attitude in my point of view. As educated and cultured folks we should be understanding of others and accepting of weaknesses and strengths.
Stemming from the streets of bangalore; one frustrated commuter to another, next time, "think before you honk". Not all auto drivers are brutes or cunning foxes who use some magical mind control techniques to veer into your path. A little patience and a great deal of calm will go a long way.
The juvenile behaviour you sometimes see from the best of adults (an uncommon phrase used to describe the exhaustively composed individuals) surprises you to the point of awe and gape. Silly people fighting with auto drivers, scolding people on the road, making profane gestures and signs. I would say even the best of us are caught unawares. These are the common paradigms we come across in our daily lives. We start to shout and honk at people who are driving slowly on the road. We look at a temple and immediately bow down to the lord, sometimes even remove our slippers or shoes before doing that, and if we are driving slow our cars down .to see the lord. This is acceptable and the norm, but if someone slows down to find parking or drop off someone we are irate and annoyed. I have seen many a times people pass comments on the auto drivers as being illiterate brutes, a substantial generalization and demeaning attitude in my point of view. As educated and cultured folks we should be understanding of others and accepting of weaknesses and strengths.
Stemming from the streets of bangalore; one frustrated commuter to another, next time, "think before you honk". Not all auto drivers are brutes or cunning foxes who use some magical mind control techniques to veer into your path. A little patience and a great deal of calm will go a long way.
Nervous first steps
Its official now, I will be leaving for my further studies to the americas. I am hoping for a great learning experience and putting some thought into understanding the cultures and diversities. As I prepare for this arduous journey of my life, I am nervous as any other person. This is quite expected and understandable according to the many people I have talked to(wry smile).
I am keeping myself busy taking driving lessons and visiting my relatives and friends. There are many emotions that pass through as you meet a few people, you are overwhelmed, distraught, happy. Sometimes you also feel like you are not missing people, they are going to stay forever. What with the internet and all, it seems like you are in the same room. All hail skype and google.
There is still a lot of shopping and small things I have to finish. A few small trips, a few friends to meet, a few goodbyes to say. All in all, I am hoping the next few days will be exciting with the shade of nostalgia and gripe laughter. Fingers Crossed :) .
I am keeping myself busy taking driving lessons and visiting my relatives and friends. There are many emotions that pass through as you meet a few people, you are overwhelmed, distraught, happy. Sometimes you also feel like you are not missing people, they are going to stay forever. What with the internet and all, it seems like you are in the same room. All hail skype and google.
There is still a lot of shopping and small things I have to finish. A few small trips, a few friends to meet, a few goodbyes to say. All in all, I am hoping the next few days will be exciting with the shade of nostalgia and gripe laughter. Fingers Crossed :) .
30 April, 2010
The era of fountain pens and leather bound books
My gift for my 12th birthday was a leather bound diary which started my love for writing. I have lost that diary in the numerous times I have shifted my house, but the memories of writing in that book still lingers on. A leather bound diary is very exotic and harps on the old world, giving you the unique distinction of either being a romantic or an old foolish git. I still maintain a couple of hardbound dairies now to pen down my random thoughts and musings and it still feels exotic today.
Among my recent acquisitions are a couple of exquisite fountain pens. One of them is from a chinese company, which I must admit is very good in spite of the skepticism about their build quality. The other is a waterman, my truly prized possession in the recent century. The waterman I own comes with a black body and a chrome cap, writes a medium and is supposedly made in Paris. The reactions I have received to this ownership has itself been amusing, with some thinking it to be lower than a hero, and some throwing the "awwww...." in my face. I positively beam when people come to recognize my possession, and generally start dawdling about how people today no longer use the fountain pens. (yeah, I know I'm a materialistic freak....and the yada yada that goes with it!!!, but come on if I owned the monalisa wouldn't I beam about it??)
This is the age of I pads and net-books, writing being only an obligatory indulgence to the tech-savvy who would care to maintain a fountain pen. The banias and vegetable vendors are more than happy with the ball-points and would only care less to go searching for ink. The era of fountain pens as I see it is completely dwindling.
Among my recent acquisitions are a couple of exquisite fountain pens. One of them is from a chinese company, which I must admit is very good in spite of the skepticism about their build quality. The other is a waterman, my truly prized possession in the recent century. The waterman I own comes with a black body and a chrome cap, writes a medium and is supposedly made in Paris. The reactions I have received to this ownership has itself been amusing, with some thinking it to be lower than a hero, and some throwing the "awwww...." in my face. I positively beam when people come to recognize my possession, and generally start dawdling about how people today no longer use the fountain pens. (yeah, I know I'm a materialistic freak....and the yada yada that goes with it!!!, but come on if I owned the monalisa wouldn't I beam about it??)
This is the age of I pads and net-books, writing being only an obligatory indulgence to the tech-savvy who would care to maintain a fountain pen. The banias and vegetable vendors are more than happy with the ball-points and would only care less to go searching for ink. The era of fountain pens as I see it is completely dwindling.
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