Most essential software that I install on my computer after a fresh OS install

That was a heck of a long title, wasn't it? But helps in search engine tagging ;)
Ok, so, the past few days I've been busy with the re-install of the OS of my company laptop. And I am just about to get my new laptop. So, I thought that it would be a good idea to list down the basic essential software I would spend time downloading and installing. Here it goes:
1. First and foremost would be Firefox without any questions. Not if I were installing a linux system on my machine, though, because all the flavors of linux come with Firefox as the default browser.
2. My corporate laptop came with WinZip already but an archive handler IMO is the next important thing anyone would need on their computer. WinZip is commercial but there are infinite options for a free archive handlers as well.
3. PDF file reader! I have grown fond of FoxReader as opposed to Acrobat. Adobe acrobat is sly fat lady of pdf readers. It occupies huge memory, it takes long to load and it keeps downloading latest versions on its own. I don't like it one bit.
4. VLC media player for playing ANY video file. There is no replacement of vlc in this department. There is no media player that will play any media file out of the box(OTB).
5. Pidgin, for IMing. Pidgin is real nifty with support for many proprietary IM clients like yahoo, gtalk, msn, etc.
6. TweetDeck, for the twitter client.
7. For some java related stuff that I have in which I store my personal information I need a JDK. So, a jdk is next in line.
8. I would like to have a copy of Eclipse for that occasional outburst of programming. And these days I am checking out Android. Therefore, the android SDK is next.
9. My corporate laptop has Microsoft office pre-loaded. But on linux/Mac OSX I'd need something like OpenOffice for that occasional document that I need to create or view. Many linux flavors already come packaged with a copy of OpenOffice.
10. Ah, did I forget the flash plugin download the browser will make you do to watch anything on youtube?

Please add a comment if you feel there is something I missed.

The Twitter Experience

Finally getting around to write about my Twitter experience!

But why did I turn to twitter ITFP(in the first place, duh!)?
I was getting sloppy with blogging inspite of the heck of an audience that I get everyday ;) And facebook I found to be heavyweight. Heavyweight? I don't know where to start but here are my grouses with facebook in no particular order:

• It takes a heck of a long time to open.
• Finally, it's a bunch of people updating some statuses and people commenting on it.
• There are some nasty people putting nasty comments viewable to whoever is your friend which you cannot delete!
  
• No quick way to see what people are upto. Like, with the help of some clients.
• I know you can write about yourself only as much you like others to know. But facebook is just intrusive in it's format. If you say tyoo little about yourself you are a voyeur and if you tell too much about yourself you have privacy issues. There is no winning.

Overall, it has never appealed to me. Then there is the IM. But IM is hardly ever used these days except for chatting where calling is not an option. AND its soo gay if you chat too much with your best same-sex buddy ;)
In comes Twitter with a lot of buzz attached to it. And I think what the heck lemme give it a try.

At first Twitter comes through as utterly unfriendly. It's, like, saying I am the one who's popular you will have to f*$king search and know more about me, how to use it, etc. It's lack of newbie help is just too stand-offish. It must be something wrong with me to not try and get to know it better and give up on it, is its message.But having stuck to it I find it better than the other alternatives in the following ways:

• It is lightweight. No lengthy bio-data to fill-up. Heck it's based on the max SMS length of 140 chars so it's gotta be pithy.
  
• It's based on a very simple format. 1. Broadcast a msg to your followers. 2. Your followers can reply just to you. 3. World can see your broadcasts but cannot send msg to you. 4. You can direct message one follower for privacy's sake too. 5. The best part nobody gets to see what others are writing to you.
  
• There are n-number of clients for it. Also, plugins with IM clients.
• I have a few people I no longer IMed much, on my follower's list now and we catch up quite often. This is the most important reason why you need twitter. Because IM is history and this is the most unobtrusive way to catch up with people who you used to IM before.
  
• The other appeal of twitter is the Mobile way to update your followers while on the move. Which I haven't tried but it's there. Phew! what if I get stuck on an island with only SMS & MMS working then I can update my followers with the sexy scenes of the exotic island that they are missing :) Or heck, a quick twitpic update of the dripping gorgeous air-hostess right from the esconce of your seat :) The possibilities are mind-numbing.

Anyyways, here are some lessons to the newbies while am at it:

• Be careful about what you broadcast as it is open to public viewing.
• Be careful about what you reply to followers with @username too. Though it is going only to specific person it is still viewable in your public timeline.
• The only way you can be sure of privacy is when you direct message someone.
• Do not reply to someone in a broadcast way as it clutters the timeline of all your followers.
• Also do not post helluva lot of broadcasts in a day. Again the same problem. I have personally unsubscribed people who did that.
• You don't have to think much before unsubscribing anyone. It's least unobtrusive. I keep getting random followers and I even don't come to know when they've unfollowed me. Also, you are not obliged to follow someone just because they are following you.
• The best way to use twitter is with a client. It makes replying, keeping to 140 chars limit and shortening lengthy urls a cakewalk. I use TweetDeck. Also, it instantly updates me with an alert of any update I got from someone I follow.
  

Last but not the least, twitter has MANY java APIs which I plan to use to make a java app for my mobile, one of these days. And finally the last thing my twitter id: http://twitter.com/gparmar :)

Damn funny alien joke

Well sonny, let me tell you bout the time the wife and I met some aliens. They landed on our farm one night and introduced themselves. Nice people. We got to talkin' and of course the conversation turned to sex. Now, the wife and I are open minded, so we thought, you know, in the name of science and interspecies understanding, we should give it a try. So the lady alien and I go off the the saucer while the male alien takes my wife to the bedroom.

Next morning, the wife and I talk about it. She says the alien had such a tiny penis, she started to laugh. Well, he says they aren't built like us. If she wants it thicker, just pull on his left ear. If she wants it longer, just pull on his right ear. So she gets it set up the way she likes and they have a great time.

"How was it for you?" she asks.

I say, "Pretty good, but that alien damn near pulled my ears off!"

Quite an interesting conundrum, this one

What must happen here in this story: http://chattahbox.com/curiosity/2009/04/02/sterile-man-pays-neighbor-to-get-wife-pregnant-and-then-things-get-weird/

While it seemed like a male fantasy coming true for Maus he has to now contend with twists like he is sterile, his wive's been cheating on him and he might have to return the $2500 that he took for his favors. I wonder which one of those twists is giving him a sleepless night.

On the other hand, Maus' wife got more in bargain than her husband indulging in IT with another woman, though with her knowledge. She had to go through the trauma of telling her husband that she's been an infidel. All this for what $2500?

Maus, though he did provide a service in exchange for compensation. But, does the fee, once paid, not entitle the buyer to some assurance Of reliability? Hmm? Huh? Ahh. These are not easy questions to answer. Not for any man.

Here's wishing Capt.Gopinath a delayed/cancelled election

Capt.Gopinath, the low-cost air-travel pioneer in India has enlisted himself for election '09 to get elected as an MP. He had founded Air Deccan which started the era of low-cost flying in India. And with it's demise so did the bubble of low-cost flying too burst. Along with low-cost flying Air Deccan also was known for really shabby customer treatment. Almost 90% of it's flight would take-off with atleast 2 hours of delay. If the requisite number of seats on a flight were not filled, Air Deccan would cancel such flights without batting an eyelid, too. Air Deccan flights were reminiscent of the buses on our Indian roads, plied by the private operator, that would not start until they had filled up. One could see such buses on our roads where the driver has started the bus and is stepping on the gas for people to think that it is about to leave but the truth is that these buses wouldn't leave without all of it's seats getting filled. Air Deccan reminded one of this scene.
Let me take this opportunity to be a good samaritan inspite of being one of his disgruntled passengers and, duely, "not" wish him any of the following on his maiden political venture: That he gets elected as an MP and:
1. His first flight to Delhi is delayed by atleast 4 hours.
2. His government alloted home is cancelled when he arrives there with his lock, stock and barrels.
3. He enters into a post-poll alliance with a party that ditches him midway.
4. He is asked to pay extra for even peanuts inside the parliament building.

People, would you want to add anything more to this? :)

"Pakistan - Riding a Tiger"

‘Pakistan is only taking half measures in the fight against terrorism. Pakistan is paying the price for not heeding our advice,’ Mr Chidambaram(PC, our Home Minister) said. ‘Unless you dismantle terror, one day or the other you'll be hurt,’ he told Pakistan. ‘We have put enormous pressure on Pakistan, but the response is in Pakistan's hands... They have not gone the whole distance to dismantle terror infrastructure. We advised them that it is not enough if they nab one or two people whom they suspect to be the masterminds.’

Kudos to our Home Minister, I am glad we are, finally, talking how we should have been talking all the time. May I add my own aphorism on the subject, "Jo doosron ke liye gaddah khodta hai wohi usme girata hain(Those who dig a grave for others end up falling in it themselves.)". This is after a longtime that I find pride in our Home Minister and Foriegn minister. On the other hand I had expected a lot more from Zardari, a person who lost his wife to Terrorism. He is the living proof that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Banning his opponent from contesting elections, treating LeT, JeM, Taliban, etc with kid gloves are not the ways expected of a person who is a victim of terrorism. Under his leadership Pakistan is leading a way of speak and counter-speak.

That said, my sympathies with the police personnel who lost their lives in the lahore attack.

Arguments lately

Lately, I've been embroiled in, sometimes heated, arguments, with one person in particular, on various subjects. The three subjects of arguments are as follows:
1. Whether Renuka Chaudhary's war cry "Pub-Bharo" was in good taste or not. I was obviously in favor of it :) But I have solid reasons, mind you.
2. Whether wizard based technologies should be the way forward. I am more in favor of "control" in my tech stuff so A-to-Z wizard based stuff is not for me. I need the element of control that ties ends together or I don't feel in control. And it is the case, if you want to do something out of the way of the wizard technologies, you end up scratching your heads.
3. Whether Sachin Tendulkar is god. I admit that I went through a phase where I used to think that India had no chance of winning when his wicket fell. But I am well past that phase. In fact, though I like the cricket the new team plays under Dhoni, I am no longer a fan of cricket! I fail to understand how a person who was so very inconsistent on the field be termed the God of Cricket! When I was young and impressionable there is no dearth of times when he has let me down by giving his wicket away.