Software Developer's Life Cycle

சீனாவின் Operation முத்து மாலை

2009-06-05T17:10:00.001+05:30

தினம் தினம் பத்திரிக்கையை விரித்தால், பாகிஸ்தானில் இருந்து பயங்கரவாதிகள் ஊடுவல், அச்சுறுத்தல், என்று கொட்டை எழுத்துகளில் நெஞ்சை பதைக்க செய்யும் செய்திகள் சரளமாக கிடைக்கும் இந்த நேரத்தில், ஒயிலாக நம் தலைக்கு மேலேயே உட்கார்ந்து கொண்டு காய் நகர்த்தி கொண்டிருக்கும் சீனாவை பற்றிய இந்த துகிரிலிரியும் பதிவை காண நேர்ந்தது.

அவற்றில் இருந்து சில கருத்துகள்:

“வளைகுடா நாடுகளில் இருந்து பெருமளவில் எண்ணெயைக் கப்பல் மூலம் கொண்டுசெல்கிறது. இந்தக் கப்பல்களின் பாதுகாப்புக்கு எனக் கூறிக்கொண்டு பாகிஸ்-தானில் கவுடார், வங்கதேசத்தில் சிட்டகாங், மியான்மரில் சிட்வி, இலங்கையில் ஹம்பன்தோடா ஆகிய இடங்களில் துறைமுகங்களை அமைத்துள்ளது சீனா.

இந்தத் திட்டத்துக்கு சீனா வைத்துள்ள பெயர், 'முத்து மாலை'. முத்துக்களைக் கோத்தால் முத்துமாலை கிடைப்பது போன்று, இந்தத் துறைமுகங்களை இணைப்பதுதான் சீனாவின் பகீர் பாதுகாப்புத் திட்டம். கண்ணை மூடிக்கொண்டு யோசித்தால், இந்தியாவைச் சுற்றி பாகிஸ்தான், இலங்கை, மியான்மர் ஆகிய நாடுகளில் சீனாவின் இரும்பு வளையம் அமைக்கப்பட்டு-விட் டது. ஒருவிதமான சுழலில் சிக்கி இருக்கிறது இந்தியா.

சீனாவின் எண்ணெய்க் கப்பல்கள் செல்லும் வழிக்கும், வங்க தேசம் மற்றும் மியான்மர் துறைமுகத்துக்கும் சம்பந்தமே இல்லை. இதனால், இந்தத் துறைமுக அபி விருத்திப் பணி மேற்கொள்வது இந்தியா-வுக்கு நெருக்கடி தருவதற்காகத்தான் என்று சந்தேகிக்கப்படு கிறது.”

இந்த பகீரத செய்தியை பற்றி விரிவாக படிக்க, இங்கே சுட்டவும்:Tamil SKY News. இந்திய அரசாங்கம் துரிதமாக காரியமாற்றி இந்த பிரச்சனைக்கு அரசியில் ரீதியான தீர்வு காணும் என்பதே என் அவா.

டிஸ்கி: அந்த வலை பக்கத்தில் இருக்கும் ஒரே வருத்தம், இப்படி பட்ட பேராபத்தை உருவாக்கி கொண்டிருக்கும் சீனாவை பற்றி பாராட்டி சில புல்லுறுவீகள் இட்டு இருக்கும் பிண்ணூட்டங்களே.

எப்போது தான் தீருமோ, மனிதனை மனிதனே வெறுக்கும் கொடிய நோய்.

Cricket meets Terrorism

2009-03-06T12:21:00.001+05:30

What we had all feared has finally became a reality. 03/03 was a sad day for Cricket. We had the misfortune to wake up in the morning and hear the horrific news of visiting Sri Lankan team being attacked by Terrorists in Lahore, Pakistan. They were on the way to the Ground, where they were expected to continue playing a Test match against Pakistan.

As much as I hate to say that, Terrorists attacks in the Sub-continent are not something anew. But, This is the first time a Cricket or a Sports team was targeted by Terrorists. Proving all claims by Officials that Sports persons are safe from Terrorists, as they are loved by one and all. The horrific scenes shown on TV screens across networks, brought memories of the hideous Terrorist attack in Mumbai on 11/26, which lasted a full 3 days of mayhem, and plunged to the whole country in sorrow and anger.

Pakistan cricket is facing a bleak future, with visiting teams certain to boycott tours to the troubled nation for the foreseeable future in the wake of the attack. As international cricket pondered the ramifications, it became almost certain that Pakistan would be stripped of its status as the co-host of the 2011 World Cup.

The horrific act, has brought down some of the legends of Pakistan, who always supported Pakistan as safe place for Cricket, and insisted that Teams should visit their country without any double standards. Wasim Akram terms 2011 World Cup as a "distant dream". Waqar Younis, agrees by saying "We have to agree with whatever the ICC decides"

I was earlier apprehensive about Australian and England Cricket teams sending out their Security expert to assess a situation in the Sub-continent, before they decide to come visiting. The trend of which dates back to 1996 World Cup in the Sub-continent, when Australia and West Indies, refused to play in Sri Lanka, citing the Civil War in the country as dangerous situation for any foreign visit. But, now it looks that was a wise decision, all along. The situation is quite well put forward by
Reg Dickason, the security consultant contracted by the ECB and CA, who said he had long feared that terrorists in Pakistan would target cricketers.

"A lot of the concerns we raised during the Champions Trophy have unfortunately come home to roost. The notion of sporting teams being a protected species was held by many, but it was not a view that we shared, unfortunately.”

Geoff Lawson, who served as Pakistan coach until last October, feared the team would suffer from being cast into a nomadic existence. "Cricket won't be played in Pakistan for the foreseeable future," Lawson said. "Pakistan look like they will become a wandering cricket team now. They will be playing at neutral venues, because you can guarantee that there won't be games there [at home].”

As much as, I would hate the Pakistan authorities over their handling of Mumbai Terror Suspects in their country, the incident draws sympathy from all corners. My deepest sorrows goes with 6 Policemen who laid their life in saving the Cricketers, and to the 2 civilians who were caught in the Cross fire. I hope they are given their due credit by the authorities, and not just the monetary help. I don’t have much hopes on the Pak Administrations planned Investigations on these cases, as how they covered up during their last investigation on Mumbai Attacks, is a world known fact.

Already the ramifications of this incident in Pakistan has snow-balled to India, and the planned IPL for April, seems to be hanging in balance due to security concerns expressed by a bunch of foreign players.

Cricinfo’s Mukul Kesavan, has this chilling account on these Terrorists -

“The boys from hell are back: sneakers, backpacks, big guns; moving about unmasked in broad daylight in that frank, open way that is their signature style”

It’s time the authorities who have witnessed this hideous crimes being committed right before their eyes, take note, and prevent events like from happening in the future. Denial Act, and Blame Game is not going to take them anywhere.

If not, the reality is going to hit them right across the face, as it did now.

Oscar Rahman & Slumdog Millionaire

2009-02-28T14:50:00.000+05:30

After much expectations, and heightened media attractions,
Slumdog Millionaire, did end up winning 8 Oscars in 2009 Academy Awards. Even though, I am still reluctant to call Slumdog as the Indian entry to Oscars, I am happy for the fact that among those who were awarded there were also 3 Indians, in Resul Pookutty, AR Rahman, & Gulzar.

I am extremely happy for Music Magician Rahman, that he finally got the accolades with two awards, which he deserved for long. I don’t rate Jai Ho as one of his best renditions, because there were instances of genius a long time before in Movies like Roja, Dil Se, to the recent one of Jodha Akbar. So, he was destined for glory, and it seems it has come at a right time, when he is gunning to touch international heights.

More than the Songs, Rahman did his marvellous work on the Background score. Something which he seems to have become mastered just like Song compositions, of late. The background score during the Police chasing slum kids through the locality, is a top pick. The momentum is kept up until the last scene, where it blasts of full of joy with Jai Ho with end credits. Simply Music Magician at his best.

So, why he got it for SM, now? I believe it is all to do with Slumdog Millionaire, which even though was pictured in India with Indian Actors, conveying a rags-to-riches story, it was heavily involved with Foreigners doing the core of the work. Even Pookutty, who won the Oscar Award for Sound Editing, did so because he had two foreigners in the team.

I go with the comments of Cine Industry heavyweights like Kamal Hasan, Amitabh Bachchan, and Amir Khan; that even though Oscar is rated higher, it is never an International recognition which we should be craving for. Let’s face the facts, it was originally an award ceremony targeted for the American Films. Much like, how Filmfare Awards is for India. So, it is prominent that they would be choosing movies which satisfies their taste. So, when the low life version of a developing country like India, was shown to them, it is natural that it would have appeased some of their feelings. So, the rest is history.

With all said and done, Slumdog Millionaire, deserves a hearty applause for how the movie was scripted and delivered, where Danny Boyle deserves the credit. With the way the worst in store in our slum life was portrayed, It’s certainly a slap in the face for all those Indians, to bring us into reality. So, rather than going into a denial mode, let’s aim our efforts in improving the Slum dwellers life in India.

If not for anything, at least Slumdog gave a footprint for Indian talent, on a global stage. I am extremely proud for what Pookutty, Rahman & Gulzar have achieved it for India. Hopefully, this would be a launch pad for other talents to get International Fame.

Two end-notes on Rahman

During the Award Ceremony: Rahman ending his Thanks speech by saying “எல்லா புகழும் இறைவனுக்கே” . Would make any Tamilian happy.
After the Award Ceremony: “I gave it away to my friends” – On the query of what he did with Champagnes he got as Gift. Rahman at his modest self.

லோக்கல் மேட்டர்: ஆஸ்கார் அவார்டு பற்றி நாம் மனம் நிறைந்து கொண்டாடும் வேளையில், நமது லோக்கல் அரசாங்கத்தின் சார்பாக தரப்படும் கலை சேவைக்கான கலைமாமணி விருது கூத்தை நினைத்தால் சிரிக்காமல் இருக்க முடியவில்லை.

2009 வது வருட விருதுகளுக்கு அவர்கள் தேர்ந்தெடுத்தது 70+ நபர்களை. குப்பன், சுப்பனுக்கெல்லாம் விருது கொடுத்து, 50 வருடங்களுக்க மேல் குடுக்கபட்டு வந்த, அந்த விருதையே கீழ்படுத்தி இருக்கிறார்கள். அடுத்த வருடம் குலுக்கல் நடிகைகளான ஷகீலா மற்றும் அல்போன்ஸா அம்மணிகளுக்கும் கலைமாமணி விருது கிடைத்தாலும் ஆச்சரியபடுவதுக்கில்லை. என்ன சார் கொடுமை இது?

A Wednesday (2008)

2009-01-28T13:25:00.000+05:30

It’s long since I got attached to a Hindi Movie, which has moved into a trend where the box-office records directly parallel to the number of star-cast who make up the list. Bad plot work and cheap imitation of Hollywood style, had made the movie-buff in me to concentrate more on the Hollywood genre. But, I should say 2008 certainly is a blessing in disguise for the sagging Bollywood industry.

Top of the Pick is A Wednesday, a movie which has a strong plot-work (written & directed by Neeraj Pandey), further breathed life by the powerful acting of Naseerudeen Shah, and Anupam Kher. The story revolves around a Common Man who takes the entire Mumbai city into a hostage crisis with demands, which attributes him as an ally to Terrorism. But, there is a twist in the storyline at the end of it when the real motive is revealed (even though, it isn’t hard to guess it with the initial scenes of the movie).

The character of “Common Man” as portrayed by Naseerudin Shah, simply steals the show, with a powerful performance, with his dialogue delivery, calm and cool acting, and maintaining a clear line between being an extremist and commonist. Anupam Kher does his bit with his portrayal of the Commission of Police, and as a narrator of the entire storyline. The telephonic conversation between Shah & Kher at the end, leaves us with a lot of questions over the society as we perceive it.

The name of the Common Man is never revealed, and it is rightly noted at the end by Commissioner, that he wouldn’t reveal it, as people tend to wrongly attach a motive with the religion.

Overall a power-packed performance and strong message to the community as a whole, makes it a must-watch movie of 2008. Hopefully the administrators and the government authorities will take a note from this movie, and would do the needful to avoid the story happening in reality.

Here are few reviews about the Movie, which I enjoyed reading on the Blog-O-Sphere:

More about the Movie:

Bat… no It’s Obamamobile

2009-01-21T18:22:00.003+05:30

Forget Batmobile, we have a new player in the field of techno-gizmo SUV, as the Obamamobile will make its entry soon. Look at the description (sourced through an email).

The Beast: Cadillac One, Barack Obama's new presidential limo

And here we are, who still continue to dream for a spacious car which could fit a family. Financial Injustice.

Anyways, Congrats to Obama for becoming the first-ever Black President of United States. Hopefully, he will fare better than his predecessors.

It’s Game On in Cricket !

2009-01-10T16:04:00.000+05:30

If you had briefed my profile, then you would know that I share an another passion towards Sports. And being an Asian, there are no prizes for guessing that my favourite sport of them all, would obviously be Cricket.

The last few months have been tremendous for Cricket Fans, who are witnessing a sea-side change from the Australian witnessed and tired Dominance over this sport for more than a decade. Now, with the back-to-back Test Series losses to India away , and South Africa at home, they have been proven human.

It will be interesting to see how they respond back to claim their numero-uno position. They have the depth in their domestic circuit to do that, but the rest of the world is fast catching up with them.

Overall Peter English of Cricinfo summarized the present situation in the best possible way:

“Australia are learning how the rest of the world lived over the past decade”

Either you are a Cricket Fan or Not, your best time to follow this sport is now. No more “Dominance”, it is everyone’s Game from hereon.

And for those who are new to this kind of Sports, here is a Dummies page I found on the Internet. It talks about Netti-Kitties of Cricket, in a Simple style… Enjoy !!

Recent Updates: Australia’s Bad run continued with the visiting New Zealand, who took them to a stalemate of 2-2 in the recently concluded One Day Series. Clearly, they are yet to come to terms with the loss of experienced players in a bunch. But, I still believe Australia has the depth in its domestic circuit, to stay a team to beat in future. If not No.1, they will always be in the Top 3. Let’s wait and see, how far my prediction turns true.

In one of the match commentaries on Cricinfo, a reader named Danny had share this gem of a thought -

"Its funny how similar Australia and Pakistan are at the moment,

Both have one new opener and one underachieving one (Hughes/Khurram - Katich/Butt)
their captain is currently their best batsman (Ponting/Younis)
shaky middle order with batsmen who used to be in great touch but now losing their form (Hussey/Misbah - Clarke/Malik)
steady keepers (Haddin/Akmal)
one makeshift allrounder (Mcdonald/Arafat)
one standout pace bowler (Johnson/Gul) and
an inexperienced bowling attack (Hilfenhaus/Talha - Siddle/Sohail)

I never thought I would say that in this lifetime.”

Turbo Boost WMP on Vista

2007-10-28T18:06:00.003+05:30

Ever since I bought my laptop bundled with Windows Vista, I had been experiencing a unique media problem unlike those which I have encountered so far. Windows Media Player which had become a pro-standard for playing media files on Windows, was taking around 10 to 15 seconds for changing tracks or opening media files, the only information provided was 'Media Changing'. The same version on Windows XP wasn't having this problem.

After browsing long on this issue, I came across the following support forum of DELL. As previously thought, it wasn't any privacy settings or antivirus packs which was causing the slowness, but some newly added features from our friends in Raymond, thinking they were improving the media experience, by adding default Enhancements.

The Steps:

Start -> Sound -> Speakers/Headphones -> Enhancements -> Disable All Enhancements -> Apply & Ok -> Ok

Disabling these enhancements, makes way for Media Player to work the same old ways, and I don't see any quality difference either. If you have been experiencing these issues, then follow the steps to resolve it.

Last Hero of Trinidad

2007-04-23T18:01:00.001+05:30

Cricket. A game which has been part and parcel of the majority Asians. I am no exception to that. There was a time when I used to hate my brother, blocking the TV for the whole day citing an One Day Match. I used to miss all my favourite cartoon shows and Sunday Serials due to that. But that was then, in a country which has adopted cricket from English, it's natural you start following the game, as the time passes. In fact, I started following the game, when I found that if you have to get into a close circle of friends, you need to be either of the two, be a follower of Cricket, or idolize any cine star. Enough bragging about myself, and coming to the biggest news of the World Cup.

This World Cup has been a mixed match of sorts for all people. The ouster of Heavyweights like India, Pakistan out of the tournament in first stage, would have taken the sheen of the competition. But, there were other stars and star teams to watch over. One of them is undoubted the Masterly, Brian Charles Lara, the hope of the whole West Indies.

When others found it hard to score runs, Lara was the one who was rattling Double Centuries at will in all parts of the world. His first International Century was a mammoth 273 against Australia. He followed that up with World record scores of 375, 501, 400*.

The stage was perfectly set for Lara, to have a last hurrah, before his retirement. The opening match against Pakistan, went according to the plan. But, then the failure of the top order, and inability to score wins in key matches, saw the team limp to the bottom of the Points table, knocking them out of contention, and thus in the process maintaining the bad omen of hosting nation deprived of a world cup.

The match against England, their last Super 8, was the time, and Lara announced his retirement, having nothing more to prove in the cricketing world. April 21, 2007 the sad day for Cricket, where it lost one of its long serving member.

Before the World Cup, Lara was indicating on extending his Test Career to the age of 40. But it eventually had to end at a month short of 38, in a career spanning 17 years, amassing 11,953 runs in 131 Tests, and 10,405 runs in 299 ODI's.

When he scored 375, then world record, Lara said. "I will be aiming to beat my record, and I think I can do it one day." He proved it right, when he reclaimed his world record from Hayden nearly a decade later. Such was the confidence and master class of Lara, which was exhibited throughout his 17 year career.

On his last Presentation Ceremony, he asked to the capacity crowd 'Did I entertain?', the wild cheers was the answer. Thanks for all the memories Lara, the last hero of Trinidad.

An Update: Lara recently was in news, as a high-profile recruit of Indian Cricket League (ICL), promoted by Zee Group in India, a 20-20 Championship. But, his first season resulted in a dismal record. He No-showed in the second edition of ICL, citing Injury. Now, It looks like he has chosen to concentrate on his personal life, and retire for good.

About Me

2006-08-21T17:56:00.002+05:30

Whether to Blog or Not to Blog? Well, this was the question which was looming in my mind for long. I have been closely watching the development of Blogs on Web-World, and have been so far amused by the amount of time each person puts in through to express their views and opinions about the happenings around them, and there are some who blog just for the fun of it.

I see people, who don't even write mails or even respond to the personal ones addressed to them (not mere forwards), suddenly making themselves busy by starting their blogs. Maybe this is the new trend, to express one to other (to the world, when it comes to Blogging). Certainly, the Blogging concept has caught up to me too... and I intend to scribble a few about those which passes through my life, both technical and non-technical.

The title of this blog, is a long thought idea of mine, to write about a software developer's life, especially me being a software engineer myself. So, I took the liberty in redefining the popularly known SDLC as "Software Developer's Life Cycle"

I finally decided to kick-start my personal blog again, as it was left to rot without any updation for quite a long time. For a change, this will be my only blog, where I am not going to expect anyone to either follow or pass their comments. It is a medium to let out my personal thoughts on the things which pass through, the blogs, news I read, the movies I watch, etc… without any boundaries as laid out by any other blog themes. The comics related part of me will still find their presence in other blogs. But, here it will be everything other than Comics. I am also planning to make this as Bi-Lingual in Tamil and English, as much as possible.

In short, there are no rules, no restrictions, no constraints, no timelines, and certainly no expectations. It’s going to be a Roller Coaster Ride, literally. Jump-In, or Jump-Out, but I am going to Blog my Heart-Out.