my mayonnaise

pretty excited about the 2nd attempt of mayonnaise this morning. The last time i made it, it was quite a disaster. too much lemon and not beaten enough.

but the 2nd attempt this morning turned to be quite nice. the magical recipe - the 222221

2 spoons of Mustard

2 eggs (whole)

2 teaspoons of sugar

2 pinches of salt

2 pinches of pepper powder

2 teaspoons of lemon juice

1 cup of oil

add everything into the blender, blend.. add 1/3 of the oil,

add another 1/3 blend again

and another 1/3 blend till thick.

pour into a salad- enjoy! :)

natural disasters in the US

Via: Homeowners Insurance

the first time i bite the dust!

Well, after buying the Trek, and restarting my cycling, i was awating that moment when you have a crash, and today that moment was there - waiting for me with open arms.

Over the last week, i got hit twice by motorcyclsts - for absolutely no fault of mine, i actually chased one bugger through the traffic and was tempted to whack the fellow, but let him go because he apologized a lot.

But today, for no fault of anyone but my own, i said hello to the pavement setup by the lovely chennai corporation.

I was trying to change lanes and take a turn, and since there was traffic, i decided to pull over to the left and then cut across to the right after waiting for the opportunity to cut across. while the bike was slowing down on the left side of the road, i failed to see a rather large stone. well, large for the cycle to handle and it hit the wheel, the handle bar turned, and bang! i was on the pavement.

0 - pavement in zero seconds flat! fastest time down!

took a while to figure out what the hell just happened, picked my self up, checked all the gears and then continued.

Moral learnt? Yup- always keep both hands on the handle bar! :)

Of Facebooks Spammer policy!

It was my birthday yesterday- a lot of people posted wishes on my wall.. so I decided to respond to them all...

and this is the message FB gives me:

"Facebook's systems determined that you were going too fast when posting on walls. You must significantly slow down."

I thought since FB has an investment from MS- it might work that way - so i logged out and logged back in again.. but i think its a little more advanced... after three more posts... it gave me the same message...

finally .. i had to open multiple windows and comment on all of them. Crap!

A nice cup of tea!

There are those moments that you start thinking about, and yearn for them. Well, this morning was the culmination of one of those moments. Last week, the gas got over at home and then the entire week was spent eating out. As a kid - you think - oh its going to be so cool when you can just go out and eat all the time, but seriously, after 4 days, i was dying for the gas to be delivered just so that i can have home cooked food. Its either the lack of drowning oil, or simply the lack of artificial flavors and rich spices that makes home cooked food bearable and guilt free, but none the less, the greatest loss from the lack of a gas cylinder was the simple fact - microwave tea! - which i must warn you, after a while gets pretty sad.

So my mind and pallet were yearing for that one cup of rich, milky tea with a dash of cardamum and sugar, which you can sip and say - aaah! wah Taj! seriously, its that one sip that allows you to relish the taste of tea and give you that little caffeine kick! :)

So this morning, after a gap of one week, i made myself a cup of tea, boiling milk and water and then lettling the tea sit for just the right amount of time, which brought back that feeling after such a long time... bliss!

nice way to start a great day! :)

awe inspiring #cycling story!

http://www.bicycling.com/news/featured-stories/happily-evie-after?page=0,1

this is the first time i am reading about someone who has jumped from a corporate life to that of a professional athlete! pretty awe inspiring stuff!

How to hire a helping hand! #Joke

got this off reddit! really hilarious!

She was a very good-looking woman and determined to keep the ranch, but knew very little about ranching, so she decided to place an ad in the newspaper for a ranch hand.

Two cowboys applied for the job. One was gay and the other a drunk.

She thought long and hard about it, and when no one else applied she decided to hire the gay guy, figuring it would be safer to have him around the house than the drunk.

He proved to be a hard worker who put in long hours every day and knew a lot about ranching.

For weeks, the two of them worked, and the ranch was doing very well.

Then one day, the rancher's widow said to the hired hand, "You have done a really good job, and the ranch looks great. You should go into town and kick up your heels." The hired hand readily agreed and went into town one Saturday night.

One o'clock came, however, and he didn't return.

Two o'clock and no hired hand.

Finally he returned a round two-thirty, and upon entering the room, he found the rancher's widow sitting by the fireplace with a glass of wine, waiting for him.

She quietly called him over to her..

"Unbutton my blouse and take it off," she said.

Trembling, he did as she directed. "Now take off my boots."

He did as she asked, ever so slowly.. "Now take off my socks."

He removed each gently and placed them neatly by her boots.

"Now take off my skirt."

He slowly unbuttoned it, constantly watching her eyes in the fire light.

"Now take off my bra.." Again, with trembling hands, he did as he was told and dropped it to the floor.

Then she looked at him and said, "If you ever wear my clothes into town again, you're fired."

Kobe's - Restaurant Review- Chennai - Naaaiiiceee!

Had heard about Kobe's coming to chennai a while back from a friend who tried the place, and she was pretty excited with the quality of food that she got. A group of friends and I finally got some time to go there, and I was pleasantly surprised to eat there. Tucked off the main road, its very easy to miss this place. You end up driving through a rather large parking lot, and the valet parking is a bliss. We were seated almost instantly even though we did not have a reservation. We ordered almost all the meats that were there- fish, lamb and chicken. I had the veg burger, but tasted the meat, and I was quite impressed with the food.

The quantities were sufficient for a single person, and the toppings were decent. There was a sizeable meat portion with an equally balanced helping of vegetables on the sizzler. The sauces were different and you could at certain points taste the individual flavours of the sauces.

I must comment here on the quality of the meat. It was very well cooked. Not under done nor over cooked. However, I might have been a little happier if they had not microwaved my burger before serving as it made the bun hard as a rusk, but i foudn that to add a nice crunch to the burger. I personally woulde have liked the patty to be a little more moist with the mayo or sauces being offered on the side for me to add.

The staff were courteous and the place appeared clean and neat. There was sufficient ventilation as our eyes did not start burining from a table of 4 sizzlers. Which is a feather in their cap.

I would recommend this place and will surely visit again.

Mainland China- Restauran Review- GWAD Aweful!

I went to mainland china last week with my wife and a few friends. They had a special offer for platinum card holders which at that point looked like an awesome deal. there was a soup of your choice, a series of 4 starters and 4 main course dishes which comprised of 2 non veg side dishes, 2 veg side dishes and 1 rice and 1 noodle and 2 deserts (i dont remember if it was 2 or 3)

the hitch is that it has to be a minimum of 4 people and you hvae to have a platinum card.

the deal is a good deal, but i was quite dissapointed with the quality of food presented. The soup was excellent, but after that everything was downhill. Yes, the crispy corn and the dimsums was still how i remembered it, but that was the star attraction. They served some fish starter in which the flavor had not reached the fish. The maincourse was pretty much the same. There were two veg dishes - which I can classify just that veg dishes - it was a hash of tasteless vegetables thrown into some gravy. I dont know what they were trying to serve- left overs or just all the excess greens that they had in the kitchen. I had half a mind to ask the staff if they thought we were cows - and looking for greens to graze on. I could not eat much of the main course as it was sub par to say the least. The chicken that they served was tasteless and almost the entire portion of the food went for a waste. The only saving grace was the desert. My wife loves the chocholate spring roles and they did not fail to dissapoint this time either. I was trying the honey fried something with icecream and loved it.

I suspect the fish was a little spoilt as it tasted a little off- and i spent the rest of the night and early morning rushing to and from the rest room. Yes, i did get an upset stomach the next day, but i also got a bad case of indestion from the food. I dont know if I can pinpoint it to the fish or the overall food. But this time I was really disappointed with Mainland china.

So if its chinese you stay far away from mainland china and try some other place.

________________________________________________________

Update - 1st September 2010

I should have posted this earlier - but as soon as my review came out, I had someone from Mainland china contact me. It was nice to see them take some solid action against what was being said. They said they would look into the entire issue and sent me an apology as well. What i really appreciate is the fact that there was some follow up. Whether or not solid action is taken I guess would be secondary, but the fact that they extended a helping hand to look into this issue is nice.

Grub Rescue - error with Windows 7 and Ubuntu

So you have installed a dual boot windows 7 and Ubuntu and then after a futile attempt to make things work at office, decide to delete the partition onto which Ubuntu has been installed. you restart and bang!

GrubRescue>

GrubRescue>

GrubRescue>

GrubRescue>

GrubRescue>

You realize that you need to get things fixed without formatting the hard disk and loosing your windows files.

Here are the steps which I took that worked for me.

1. Boot with a regular windows 7 CD.

Select the English (or your language option)/ keyboard setup etc and click next

3. select "Repair Windows" option

4. after the installation of windows is found, select the install and click next.

5. select the Repair boot option

now if this does not work. You need to get your hands dirty.

6. Select the option of "Command Prompt"

7. Enter the following command

bootsect /nt60 sys c:\

this should repair the mbr

incase this does not work try the next option

bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup

C:

CD Boot

Attrib bcd –s –h –r

ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old

bootrec /RebuildBcd

then it said

“Scanning all disks for windows installations.

Please wait, since this may take a while…

Successfully scanned windows installations: 1

[1] C:\windows

Add installations to boot list? Yes(y)/No(N)/All(A) : “

I pressed ‘Y’ as there was only one instance of windows installation. Then it said The operation completed successfully.

6. Next entred the following command bootrec /fixmbr It said The operation completed successfully.

7. Next entred the following command bootrec /FixBoot Again It said The operation completed successfully.

incase this does not work try the next option

go to c:

type Dir

if you get a blank directory then thats the problem. Find out what drive letter has been assigned to the primary windows installation drive. in my case, the rescue drive setup by toshiba assigned c to itself. and my windows was loaded onto what dos assumed was D: so i changed the bootsect command a bit

type :

bootsect /nt60 sys d:\

and bang!

Windows boots up!

thanks to www.pcchimp.com for this support

and http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7repair/thread/42d3f550-bf5f-459d-94ed-4cbadd7c933c

#twitter coming of Age in #India?

It was a pleasant surprise.
Came to office on this morning, and the airtel internet connection was not working. to the point of frustration as it was not a on off scenario but an annoying slow and painful connection. Which forced me to post a tweet : Well, an hour and a half after that - i get a reply :)
if not anything - i know someone is listening - and as i promised our friend sitting behind the name of tatadocomo - when the number portability comes in - i will jump out of airtel!
:)

Heights of Cross selling - #IRCTC!

IRCTC is now no longer selling train tickets only.... but also flight and train... :)

have 2 employees - you need a server - according to #Dell

I came across this rather interesting article published by dell, targeted at the SMB market.

http://tinyurl.com/3yu2ell

Ten Signs That You Need a Server

If you’re a small or medium business owner with more than one computer, it’s time to consider investing in a server. A server will keep your data secure and organized and will help you run your business more efficiently and professionally. If you’ve reached one of the 10 thresholds below, a server could do your business a world of good:

1. You Have More Than Two Business Computers

The bottom line is, if you need two or more computers in your business, then it’s time for a server. By storing and organizing data in a core location, you’ll be able to access and share files easily and manage business information more efficiently.

2. You Have More Than One Employee

A server enables your employees to share software tools and access company databases on-site and off-site. As your business grows, you’ll be able to better manage additional computers and software applications and better control which employees and devices have access to certain information.

3. Your Customers Think Your Business Is Owned by Go Daddy

If you’re still using a Web site hosting company like Go Daddy®, then it’s time to upgrade to your own server. Hosting your own Web site and email system presents a more professional image and enables you to conduct business more easily by consolidating email accounts.

4. You or Your Employees Conduct Business Outside the Office

If you work from home, travel frequently or have a mobile workforce, a server will allow you and your employees to remotely connect to your company network and access information and resources no matter where you are.

5. You’re Tripping Over Cords

If you have two or more computers that share access to peripherals, such as printers and fax machines, it’s time for a server. Not only will a server help you eliminate the mess of excess cords, it'll also help you save the cost of buying them.

6. You Can Never Find That Master Document When You Need It

If you share documents between multiple computers, you run the risk of losing important files and of having multiple versions of vital documents. A server will help you manage your files and provide a centralized location for you to store and organize important documents, so that you always have access to what you need, when you need it.

7. Your PCs Are Old and Grumpy

Whether you want to replace your old PCs or help them function better, a server can help you. A server makes the migration of files from an old PC to a new one a cinch, and freeing up memory and storage offers a welcome break to older PCs that are loaded down with data.

8. Your Computer Crashed and You Lost Critical Data

If you have valuable files and data that can’t be replaced, a server will help protect them from loss and corruption. You’ll be able to back up information easily and restore files that were accidentally deleted or misplaced. You’ll almost never have to worry about a crashed hard drive wiping out your system again.

9. You Want to Protect Information from Unauthorized Users

A server will allow you to restrict access to sensitive information, such as financial records and personnel information, by storing it away from prying eyes. It will also allow you to better manage firewalls and virus protection, especially when you have a mobile workforce.

10. You Want to Improve Communication with Employees and Customers

A server enables you to easily add platforms — such as customer relationship management (CRM) software and accounting programs — which allow you to schedule group meetings, share information, and manage clients and vendors. It also allows your employees to send group emails and faxes, and organize customer contacts and customer data in one location.

_____________________

personally - i think its a cunning ploy to scare people into buying unecessary infrastructure. While the world and its neighbor is moving towards hosted services and clouds, pushing a first time business owner to install a server simply because there are two employees is sad and moreover pathetic.

Windows it pushing that the file share services is good, where you can share folders etc, so why invest in a server?

The points outlined in the article show that a company / startup / small business should first look at hosted services and then when they are too big for hosted services - they should invest in their own infrastructure. instead the article has flipped the schema the other way and proposes own infrastructure from the beginning! WTF?

Finally - reasons to dump #windows and move to #linux

http://www.cio.in/node/6258/nl

Taken from the CIO website - linky above.

What's your excuse for sticking with Windows? Here's why there's never been a better time to get rid of it.

Now is a particularly good time to ditch Windows for good, for workstations as well as servers. For instance, now that Microsoft stopped supporting Windows Server 2003 on July 13, you'll need to find something different to use for your servers. Whether it's switching from Windows Server 2003 to 2008 or to Linux-based servers--or changing out tired and faulty Windows Vista desktops for the alien Windows 7 or something more user-friendly--Linux provides you with freedom and freedom of choice.
You might believe that dumping Windows and switching to Linux is a difficult task, but the change in thought and the perception of that switch are the most difficult. If you've attempted an upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7, you know what pain is.

Business owners find that Linux, for what was once a "niche" operating system, provides the necessary components and services on which many rely. Linux continues its entry into the world's largest data centers, onto hundreds of thousands of individual desktops, and it represents a near 100 percent domination of the cloud services industry. Take the time to discover Linux and use it in your business. Here are ten reasons to give Linux at least a second look:
1. Commercial Support

In the past, businesses used the lack of commercial support as the main reason for staying with Windows. Red Hat, Novell and Canonical, the "big three" commercial Linux providers, have put this fear to rest. Each of these companies offers 24x7x365 support for your mission-critical applications and business services.
2. .NET Support

Businesses that have standardized on Microsoft technology, specifically their .NET web technology, can rely on Linux for support of those same .NET applications. Novell owns and supports the Mono project that maintains .NET compatibility. One of the Mono project's goals is to provide businesses the ability to make a choice and to resist vendor lock-in. Additionally, the Mono project offers Visual Studio plugins so that .NET developers can easily transfer Windows-based .NET applications without changing their familiar development tools. Why would Novell and others put forth the effort to create a .NET environment for Linux? For real .NET application stability, Linux is a better choice than Windows.
3. Unix Uptimes

Linux stability offers business owners the peace of mind that their applications won't suffer lengthy outages due to operating system instability. Linux enjoys the same high uptimes (often measured in years) that its Unix cousins do. This stability means that Linux can support your "99.999 percent available" service requirements. Rebooting after every patch, service pack, or driver change makes Windows an unstable and unreliable choice for those who need nonstop support for their critical applications and services.

4. Security

No operating system is 100 percent secure and Linux is no exception. But, Linux offers excellent security for its users. From regular kernel updates to an almost daily list of security patches, Linux code maintainers keep Linux systems very secure. Business owners who rely on commercially supported Linux systems will have access to every available security fix. With Linux, you have a worldwide community providing security fixes, not a single company with closed source code. You are completely dependent on the response of one company to provide you with timely security fixes when you use Windows.

5. Transferable skills

One barrier to Linux adoption was the idea that Linux isn't enough like Unix, and therefore Unix administrators couldn't successfully use their knowledge when making the switch to Linux. The Linux filesystem layout looks like any commercial version of Unix. Linux also uses a standard set of Unix commands. There are some Linux commands that do not transfer, but this is also true of any version of Unix.

Windows administrators might find that using a keyboard instead of a mouse is a difficult part of the transition, but once they discover the power of the command line, they might never click again. Don't worry, though, for you GUI-bound Windows types, Linux has several desktop managers from which to choose--not just one.

6. Commodity hardware

Business owners will like the fact that their "out-of-date" systems will still run Linux and run it well. Fortunately for Linux adopters, there's no hardware upgrade madness that follows every new version of the software that's released. Linux runs on x86 32-bit and 64-bit architectures. If your system runs Windows, it will run Linux.

7. Linux is free

You may have heard that Linux is free. It is. Linux is free of charge and it is free in the sense that it is also free of patents and other restrictions that make it unwieldy for creative business owners who wish to edit and enhance the source code. This ability to innovate with Linux has helped create companies like Google, who have taken that ability and converted it into big business. Linux is free, as in freedom.

8. Worldwide community

Linux has the support of a worldwide community of developers who contribute to the source code, security fixes and system enhancements. This active community also provides businesses with free support through forums and community sites. This distributed community gives peace of mind to Linux users, because there's no single point of failure and no single source for Linux support or development.
9. Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is a corporate collective of platinum supporters (Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Intel, NEC, Novell and Oracle) and members who, through donations and membership dues, sponsor Linus Torvalds and others who work on Linux full time. Their purpose is to "promote, protect and standardize Linux to fuel its growth around the world." It is the primary source for all things Linux. The Linux Foundation is a big positive for Linux users and adopters because its existence assures continued development of Linux.
10. Regular Updates

Are you tired of waiting for a Windows service pack every 18 months? Are you also tired of the difficulty in upgrading your Windows systems every few years because there's no clear upgrade path? (Ubuntu Linux offers new, improved versions every six months) and long-term support (LTS) versions every two years. Every Linux distribution offers regular updates of its packages and sources several times per year and security fixes as needed. You can leave any upgrade angst in your officially licensed copy of Windows because it's easy to upgrade and update Linux. And, the best part? No reboot required.
If you'd like to give Linux a try, there are several distributions that are free to download and use without the need for any commercial support contract:

• CentOS -- Red Hat Enterprise Linux-based free distribution
• Ubuntu -- Free, enterprise Linux distribution (Commercial support available).
• Fedora -- The Fedora Project is the free, community-supported version of Red Hat Linux.
• OpenSUSE -- The free, community-supported version of Novell's SUSE Linux.
• Debian -- The parent distribution for many Linux distributions including Ubuntu and Linux Mint.
You can find information regarding switching from Windows to Linux through the Linux Foundation or any of its platinum members. When it comes to increasing your efficiency, saving money, and providing non-stop services to your business and its customers, how many reasons do you need?

This post has been copied from the CIO website, if it is in violation please contact me and I will take it down immediately.

ive lost!

the doctors told me that i need to lose a significant amount of weight. so i went on this excercise routing, where i did loose a lot of fat first. So after mch stress and hard work, this is how i looked

To boost that, i fell ill, and lost even more weight. :) so this is how i look now.

I married superwoman!

Over the last two weeks, things have been on a bit of a roller coaster for me, in the health department specifically. Been battling fever every now and then, and finally i got run down by the fever bus. But all through this this, my wife has been awesomely supportive and not a hint of anger, frustration or even angst about how my health was going. She patiently drove me to the doctors, gave me cold compresses and gave me "healthy food", usually making it specifically for me. When I had to finally get admitted to the hospital, I did feel a sense of relief, with the fact that she can now relax and there were nurses to run around and take care of me. But yet, she spent the nights in the hospital, and went to work during the week, and followed the whole routine.

I came back home on Saturday, and i was most worried about being a burden on my wife, but i was most amazed with the energy with which she handled everything, and had the energy for more. Making juice, food, bringing me the tabs. etc etc. One thing typhoid (or whatever I am suffering from) does is drain you so bad that brushing your teeth looks like a herculean task. So with the way I see her zipping around, only two things come to mind,

a) Thank you god for giving me such an awesome life companion and
b) I married superwoman! :)

#Kites- A #review

Kites - i did not get too many positive reviews on the movie, so i thought i might just give it a skip, but then tata sky decided to feature it on showcase and for 75 bucks, i got to watch it, cheaper than buying a DVD and much cheaper than watching it in the theater, plus its legal - so i can relax! :)

At first i thought, how would they make a Spanish woman talk hindi - and with her saying "Mey ullu ki patti hu" was hilarious, but very nicely done, i must comment.

Though the end was a bit depressing, I would have preferred an end where "they live happily ever after" but in this case they live in the happily ever after. The baddies play some crazy baddies. the best part was it was a short movie, and it did not seem to drag. no song dance in the meadows with hero and heroine running towards each other. Rain dance happened, but it was classy.

The cinematography was interesting, with some different lighting angles and shots. The car chase scenes were interesting, though copied from a wide selection of movies, the jumping onto the balloon and jumping off into the lake, as far as i remember - a first for a Desi flick.

None the less, a good entertainer. Kudos to the team.

the most idiotic holdup! Watch and enjoy!

Man walks in, pulls out gun, throws bag on table to fill.
but is ignored.
man leaves.
I cant seem to find the linky for the video directly- so please watch it on the Mirror website:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/06/02/is-this-the-world-s-most-pathetic-hold-up-watch-the-video-115875-22303415/

Limca Advert song!

Found the song finally on the internet. Not great quality recording, but none the less - the songs here!

limca ad song complete mp3 | lyrics

free music downloads | music videos | pictures

#Ad #Review - #LMN

I recently caught a review of the new set of LMN TVCs on Agency FAQs a premier provider of advertising content in India (as they say, 2nd only to brand channel which is a huge thing). I decided to check out the ads after reading the review and was sadly disappointed.

The first TVC that was brought out was about the person who was thirsty and was really small, and he becomes big after drinking LMN, Now this TVC, initially made no sense what so ever, but then it sticks to your head. Parle seems to be good at commissioning creative ads, but the disconnect comes with the distribution, as it has been clearly outlined by the smart chips. The TVC is brilliant with Aamir Khan displaying some really cool parkour moves, but then if you go to the shop to pick up a packet of smart chips - its not available on the shelves. So ideally, a campaign with a national foot print should infact be supported by the necessary distribution network to enable the customer to exercise the buying decision.

Back to the LMN advert, the new set of adverts is disappointing.

Firstly, as creative as these might be, I personally believe that the closure is not happening in the ad. I dislike limca as it is way to carbonated for my liking, but the advert is something that sticks to my mind. You drink it you get refreshed. This coupled with some catchy tunes makes it a killer. The first LMN advert conveyed that point, you drink it you get refreshed, however, the new set of bushmen ads fails to send home that message - LMN is what you drink if you are thirsty. The ad establishes the thirst angle, but it fails to convey that message of refreshment achieved by consuming the drink when one is that thirsty.

catch more reviews here:
http://www.afaqs.com/perl/news/story.html?sid=27029