Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay

I've been putting off writing a review on Coldplay's latest album - Mylo Xyloto, up until now. Well, partly I was waiting to get my hands on the entire album and previously since I had heard only a couple of the songs, which themselves were bliss to the ears, I had a feeling that justice could be done only after hearing to the entire album.

Synopsis: The whole experience is surreal and exhilarating. Coldplay has included more electronic effects into the songs than ever before and the result is just beautiful. Close your eyes as you hear and it just plays on your mind letting it wander into an expanse of creativity and endless illusional possibilities ;) The beats and vibrations are very positive and uplifting. The feel good factor has always been a thing of Coldplay's songs and this time around, the inclusion of new experimental electronic sounds have added to the beauty of the tracks. It is a very matured Coldplay album with the band really coming of age here. I could really go on and on about how mesmerizing the music is, but I urge you to get the album asap and switch off your minds and let Mylo Xyloto take you on a wonderful and peaceful journey !

Make sure you hear them on high quality headphones/ speakers to catch all the sounds in their right loudness levels.

Genre/Ambience: Easy Listening, Electronic/Soft Rock. A definite on the playlist after a stressful and busy day.

Best Tracks: Paradise, Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall, Hurts Like Heaven, Charlie Brown (Just for the record, I do vouch for the entire album!!)

You will also like: U2, R.E.M

Rating: 8.5/10

Inner Peace \m/

$ur

Blogger Updates

Sad to have learned the news of the passing of Mr. Steve Jobs, the Apple Inc. visionary. Anyhow, this post is not on that. There are already billions pouring their heart out on Facebook and though I feel a bit sad too at the loss of one of the world's greatest innovators, I'm not dedicating anymore time on what has happened !

So living in the present and moving on with life, when I learned of the new Dynamic Views feature on Blogger, I was once again excited to spread the novel updates on the web ! Dynamic view templates will definitely drive in more traffic into blog for one thing. It will also make the random stumbler on your blog click on more posts of yours and perhaps discover more interesting stuff on them!

I think this is one of the best things to have happened to blogger lately and I'm just loving it. Whats more pleasing is the fact that, the readers can themselves select the dynamic view in which they wanna see your posts and that customization is again very thoughtful on the part of Blogger.

So for those of you who've probably lost your interest in blogging because of the lack of reader outreach in spite writing fantastic blog posts, this is one way you can revamp your blog and make your mark once again on the web ;)

If you received this post via your email, do check out my blog page to see what I'm drooling about ;)

Inner Peace \m/

$ur

Beating the Stress - Take 2

Hola,

Well, following my last post, I would like to add few more cues which I left out last time around.

I guess it makes sense to keep in touch or brush up those skills on your resume if you made the resume quite a while back when you graduated or last worked, but you are still looking for roles in that area. Well, I was finding it hard as the courses I did were quite technical and there is no way that I can get all the software that I used when I studied them at the university. Perhaps some of you used them at your previous workplace and don't have a personal copy of those anymore. Though I have to be careful not to endorse torrent sites to find these softwares ;), there is however a good chance you might find a copy there !

Or maybe you never knew before that the Linux, or more specifically the Ubuntu software repository has a lot of open source, free to download software for a number of different areas of study. They even have some finite element analysis (FEM) software !! Now, that came as quite a surprise to me. FEM software as such take time to get the hang of and I don't know how much less friendly a Linux version of that might be, but that said, I did download it to check out. Will be doing so sometime soon !

For those management guys out there, the repository has also got mind-mapping, statistical and a variety other software. Ah, well this I included for the specific benefits of few friends who said mind-mapping is all they do all the time these days :P !!

Well, so now that you've worked your way around getting that specific software tool, let's see if there is an alternative to re-reading all those lecture notes or presentations too ! When I graduated few months back and was looking out for jobs, I was already a bit grey on some of the advanced topics I had covered in my Uni, and some people advised that I keep reading my notes and ppts. But this is something that is easier said than done. It's one thing to go through your notes for an interview that is scheduled and totally another thing staying in touch by reading them every week till it gets into your long term memory ! 

A solution to this is to try and find web seminars in your areas of interest. These will most often be provided by leading companies in respective areas of expertise, usually offered free of charge. Although, prior registration might be mandatory. Trust me, this is something I have been doing the last few weeks and not what I picked up from some random career advice website, which mostly may not work for all you know :P

Wow, so much for keeping you razor sharp ! And not to forget the Zombie games that'll keep you firing all cylinders ;)

Inner Peace \m/

$ur

Beating the stress..Take a chill pill !!

Hi there,

Last few days have been hectic ! Frantic job hunting for one thing, as I'm finishing my present assignment in another month or so. Though deviating from my usual topics that I blog about, I thought I'd share some cues from firsthand experience. As you might have been there before - the first few days of the job hunt are always fun, because you are looking towards something fresh. But as days pass by, you start to sense anxiety building up and fear creeping in. This can be coupled with low confidence levels.

Well, I decided to beat the monotony and end the misery once and for all. 

Firstly, I took to some old time games - Lemon Tycoon and the likes. Refreshing I must say. This is not to say that I have given up my hunt; but I found a way to vent out some of my frustration this way. Believe it or not, good games are pretty good at keeping anxiety at bay. They work like a charm, mainly because you get fully involved in them sooner than you think. Oh between I'm also getting addictive to the Zombie games :D Well, so few random games and I'm good to go hunting again !

I'm finding the tactic more mentally soothing and productive. It's much like getting a fresh pair of eyes to read through your resume. You tend to see things more objectively for one and see new ways of tackling the challenge at hand. 

Secondly, reading the articles posted in the various groups I'm part of on LinkedIn were quite invigorating too! Taking part in some of the discussions, reading industry updates etc. does really help blow off some steam. 

Thirdly, supplementing self-introspection with discussion. Like discussing my strategy and plans with someone who understands me well. Have you ever realized that at times when something seems quite amiss and you have a hard time figuring out what that is, hearing yourself out loud while telling someone about it, gives you that answer?

So, I guess I've managed to somehow cope up with the current situation reasonably well. But I'll be honest, this aren't the best of times and a great deal of effort is required on your part to keep your cool, for only if you can do so can you hang in there !

OK, time to fight some zombies and then get back to work ;)

Inner Peace \m/

$ur

It ain't Game Over for Nokia, yet !!

Hola !

I'm sure some of must have come across my blog app called The Maverick which went up on the Nokia Ovi Store. And when I checked this morning on my application summary report on my developer's page, I was surprised to see that my app has been downloaded from 6 different countries already ! So much for motivation :) cheers guys, I'm flattered !!

I've been wanting to blog about the Nokia App Wizard which I stumbled upon few days ago. To be honest, my regards for Nokia went up a tad for sure. I was very excited to see that it is all free to make your own app and that anyone with absolutely no programming skills could conjure up one. My first thought was to see if I could create a Symbian app for BeanHunter. But, soon enough my hopes were let down when I realized after signing in that there aren't too many options on what apps can be created. I was about to sigh in disappointment, when my eyes caught the Blogger Logo on the screen and I thought, "Wow, now that's not a bad idea. Let me make an app for my own blog!"

So I started off. Let me tell you this, it was easy enough and it wasn't too misleading after all the effort I put into deciding what pictures to choose to display as the logo, what to name my app etc. when finally Nokia allowed me to submit my app for their review before it went up on the Ovi Store. I was a bit skeptical that I might have to pay a small fee on submission that would have thwarted my plans. Anyways, so everything went on just fine and I got my app approved in less than 24 hours.

As I said before, I was impressed by Nokia's constant efforts to keep improving their services though I'm sure they themselves know they are fighting a losing battle to win back once loyal Nokia customers from Apple and Google with the launch of the iPhones and the Androids respectively. But Nokia has certainly not decided to give up without a good fight back. Yes, I do realize most of you would say that is a very meager attempt on Nokia's part at playing catch up with Android et. al. I wouldn't so much say myself that Nokia has upped it's ante, still, over the last few months, I was happy to have gotten Ovi apps for the World Rally Championship, Formula 1, and from a utility point of view, it even released an app for the Melbourne Transport Network - The Metlink. Now, that stunned me a little because who would have thought Nokia is even used so much in Melbourne. I rarely see a Nokia Smartphone here in Melbourne, though occasionally when I do I feel privileged to be part of that small and 'niche' community we've become !

Well, my loyalty has been attributed sheerly to the utilitarian and value for money aspects of my Nokia Smartphone than any intangible emotional attachment to Nokia. I don't mind saying that I would have gone for Droid if  there were any phones offering me the same specifications at the same price, and most importantly not compromising battery life !

So, for all you Nokia Smartphone users out there, the Nokia App Wizard is really something to cheer about and check out. Here is the link to the page, http://appwizard.ovi.com/web_nokia/signIn.jsp

Hope you enjoy it !! 

Inner Peace \m/

$ur

iRant - Food for thought ;)

I'm personally of the opinion that though technology is supposed to make your life much simpler, making it too simple that your life is totally dependent on it, is a vicious ploy of the current "cutting edge" technology developers. 

Well, it wouldn't be therefore farfetched to hint that this is one of the reasons why I don't like the Apple iPhones much. Though I'm sure it's arguable enough, why wouldn't anyone want to make communication as simple as possible. My issue with that argument is just that, the iPhone creates a big lot of snobbish users who act as though they've been given a very 'user unfriendly' gadget, if they have to at some point operate (god forbid) a Nokia or an Android phone. So my reasoning is that because the iPhone made things so blatantly 'simple' (as they claim it) or to out in my words, created so many iZombies, that if one fine day Apple decides to pull the plug (again god forbid, though this time it's them praying), we will have a population so typical of the one in the Idiocracy movie !

Don't even get me started on the iPad or the iPods. Though I imagine, and to an extent have experienced firsthand, the quality and seamless attributes of the latter, if you have ever stepped out of an Apple user's shoes, you will realize how much of an iBitch these users are. The reasons are obvious - you need iTunes to sync songs, it can be synced only with iTunes installed on just 1 machine at a time (though there is a hack, which I'm sure is out of question as it's too high level for the comprehension of, let alone of any use to an iBitch). The iPhone and iPad also have such limitations, but still it makes you wonder, then why on earth would so many people pay premium to use Apple products?

Well, if you ask me, I would say, there are couple of different reasons,

• Initial success of the Apple computers, creating a niche of high quality, high end, virus free computing.
• Benefits from the technology lock-in through increasing rates of return which mainly in Apple's case is through the externality caused by reasons of compatibility - almost every website/company offering some service has an iPhone app and this is one main reason why people are buying the apple products. Another example is that of the integrated car audio systems that are increasingly made iPod compatible.
• But the 3rd and most important reason is that people like it more when their intelligence isn't questioned :P- and no one does it better than Apple; and no offence, but Linux did just that until Android came out ! 

Though the last reason may sound like the beginning of a new conspiracy theory, I certainly do believe nobody understood and applied human psychology much better than Apple. But, I don't disagree one bit that Apple hasn't done any good. They are pioneers in using some of the most eco-friendly and recyclable materials in their products and I personally am also a big fan of Mr. Steve Jobs. 

The reason why I had to rant about this was stemmed from my thoughts on how they have to an extent manipulated the people so much that people (especially in first world countries) who are otherwise so used to complaining if one small feature is missing, have unbelievably accepted the shortcomings of Apple's products - be it forwarding messages, playing flash, very few customizable features etc. to name a few. The sheer number of Apple users (I do not include MacBook users because I truly believe they have the least malevolent influence among all other Apple products) henceforth is a testament in itself of how many Apple has actually brain washed and continuing to.

Well, so certainly, if you wish to have some food for thought, I have laid it out for you. It is definitely worth pondering, but if you think it is too much of a headache to think so deviantly, then it might be better to move on and enjoy life (to be read - go download some new app :P) !

Inner Peace \m/

$ur

For the Geek in you

I came across a really cool website today. Well it's actually a computer geek site and goes by the name http://www.howtogeek.com/.

It has everything you could imagine to tweak or know about your computer. From simple, yet very powerful registry hacks to some complex troubleshooting and utility information. Some of the tips, tricks and hacks vividly reminded me of times when I used fiddle around a lot with my 386 model computer in my school days -  and a particular time when I had to get a 400pg e-book unzipped using DOS commands and the only place I could find information on how to do it was at a local computer teaching center a kilometer away from my home. So I guess times have changed for the good and these days it's just a click away.

One might feel that there is a lot of a reading material up there and is a bit too cluttered, until you get a hang of the way the site has been laid out. This I feel is typically how a geek's room would like if depicted digitally, though I don't in any way suggest that only if things seem haphazardly arranged does it necessarily fit the stereotypical description of a geek :P !

Nevertheless, I suggest that you bookmark this site, for it will definitely be a lifesaver when you need help. It has almost everything you would need and you can most reliably turn to this site for troubleshooting tips if you ever go overboard with your crazy mods.

Till next time.

Inner Peace \m/

$ur

Ramblings of the Lazy

On and off, I gain and lose the inspiration to blog. Well, I had thought I was out of one writer's block last time when I revamped my blog space with some new content, a change of template, 'unadulterated and straight from the head without filtration' ideas and what not. But alas, it was around the same time I landed some work commitments. Most part of me, was overjoyed by the welcome change - not to blogging - but to do something that I have been yearning to do - use the skills I had honed so much, which at one point was looking to go down the drain being left underutilized since my university days. 

And thus the brief period of activity began with only rare phases of boredom. This I welcomed as part of recuperating my senses, by feeding the entertainment lover in me. Starting with the last week though, things started looking a bit more morose with little activity on the work front, more time at hand yet not being able to enjoy as much because of the unfruitful job applications.

Well, I've always felt that no matter what the situation in life, some days are better than the others. Sometimes for no reason, all you can see is why everything is just not right and on other occasions, no matter how unsure the future might be, you can see those silver linings. And today though there is nothing to really cheer about, scanning through the pages of  Reader's Digest, which I'm sure I did the first time in a long long time, felt nice and refreshing. I noticed that the Reader's Digest has evolved from how it used to be. The columns and the styles have changed a bit, though just some harmless shuffling around. Laughter is the Best Medicine is now called " Laughter is still the Best Medicine ;)" ; yes the wink was there too ! 

Let's see how how far I go before I hit the next writer's block ;)

Inner Peace \m/

$ur

Introducing an idea..

Stemming from my own funny (:P it is a personal opinion n I'm allowed to) self at times, the occasional adventures  of sharing these whacky thought trains with my pals (some sane n some insane enough to tolerate me ;) ); Stewie Gryffin's character, Scott Adams n the likes butting in pleasantly into my life, now and then, has given me sort of an impetus to record the alter-ego of the self that is witty yet dark, dark yet lighthearted, brooding yet lively..I can go on..but you got it, right ?!! 

Feedback is appreciated; while of course I may have to add a disclaimer here that says "All conversations might be recorded for the purpose of future referencing and that, though all characters depicted in the conversations might bear resemblance to any character, living or dead, it is purely coincidental and has to be taken in the spirit of the fun" ; there I said it; whew ! 

I have come to believe, after being mostly serious previously, that time spent is well spent only if you enjoy it; and so keeping that in mind (like how Scott Adams so effortlessly does in his work), let us all have that side in us, that once in a while laughs at ourselves only to remind us that life is supposed to be fun (I'm not an atheist :P, ha I knew you were thinking along those lines!) and not meant to be taken very serious all the time (I already said that didn't I; oh gosh!) !

Inner Peace ;)

$ur

Dengue Fever

I came across this very different band called the Dengue Fever sometime back today, while stumbling over the plethora of sites on the WWW. The music struck as me a very different one and the band has identified itself to be of a rather interesting genre - Psychedelic Rock n Roll. Well, don't be fooled by the psychedelic music realm because it is nothing like Pink Floyd as you might expect.The band combines music from Cambodia with Californian Rock n Roll to generate a beautiful fusion that is quite unique and unusual.

"Lead singer Chhom Nimol’s haunting voice", as I remember having read somewhere, is catchy to say the least. For the sake of knowing that such diverse music exist, at least, I'd definitely recommend looking up some of their music on youtube. 

Recommended Tracks : Sleepwalking Through The Mekong, Made of Steam, Sni Bong, Sober Driver

Ambiance: Whenever you need a flying feelin' (or whenever you are flyin ;))

Peace,

$ur

High Speed Rail

Today morning's Age newsletter on Travel/Living featured a news article on a proposed High Speed Train concept for Australia. As you'd expect with most of such concepts, it always looks fantastic on paper and this was my first thought even before starting to read the article - let's say part of having acclimatized to the local culture here :P.

Anyways, but the prospect of it did sound reassuring given the pathetic state of affairs of the current rail network. So I read on. The company that put forth the concept has used a gimmick already by quoting that the design is inspired by the Holden Monaro of the 60s; in the sense that it is a super fast vehicle! I feel that it is pretty a lame and poor tactic in an attempt to get the concept "a thumbs up" from hardcore Aussie petrol heads and the likes ! 

Which was even more surprising was to find similar thought trains running in other readers' heads. Many have ridiculed this concept, as one being too far fetched for the Australians to handle. 

Or maybe I'm being too much of a cynic like others who commented like me. Maybe there is just a social and environmental concern behind the whole plan. But whatever it is, it is quite known that Australia isn't really a country that can embrace such a huge leap in technology overnight. Things happen at a calculative and gradual pace. Certainly not a negative, but that's just the way things are around here. 

Anyways, I have crossed my fingers; who knows, and even pigs may fly !

Peace,

$ur

Makes sense ??

One of many ads you'd see around the city ! Makes you wonder, 1) if it's just you or are the others too not getting it 2) or is it just plain stupid ?!!

Brendan and The Secret Of Kells

Foreword:

*Yawn*... a lazy evening here at Melbourne..rain lashing on the windows..had it been more chilly, it would have certainly added to the ambience..

I was tipped off recently of the OSTs of this new flick, Brenden and The Secret of Kells.. So here I'm listening to it sitting in my dark room..Dunno whether it is the hangover of the still fresh tracks from Porcupine Tree from the morning's playlist or just an uncanny resemblance of some of these tracks to it..less dark in nature though..

Highlights: Magical feel of ringing bells ; bagpipes, cello strumming, drumming, echoes, varying pitches n tempo..mythological..violin and flute solos..mesmerizing compositions and very gentle transitions between each instrumental piece.. soothing..

Peace,

$ur

Computerized cooker ?

Any thoughts :) ??

Stuck

Yet again, after a slimmer of hope (though a bit cynical), I learned, that I'm stuck..well, if you know my story, your guess almost automatically will be, "residency status??" ; well, it is so damned unfair to be judged on the basis of this stupid aspect over academic qualifications here in this country !

Well, it is debatable that the country looks out for it's people first and others second. But it is not by having 50 places for locals vs 1 for outsiders; when the number of outsiders to locals applying is almost 100:1.

Well, naturally, you'd be inclined to look at the economics of it rather that the 'social commitment', as they supposedly claim it to be. Well, there you have it - education in a first world country with the primary motive of making financial gains, and whatever follows, as an added extra !! And here I'm fighting the odds; is this a losing battle, I sometimes can't help myself thinking !

Peace,

$ur

Technology saves the day, again :P

After what seems to have been a writer's (blogger's) block, I've sort of been wanting to get back to blogging more actively. Well, as for the block, I figured it is best if I can find an application to blog from my phone (ahem, yes, you thought right, the generation is to be blamed for :P). Well, so in a rather desperate attempt to salvage my blog, I frantically searched for an app (between the intermittent reception of network coverage on my phone) while I was on a long train journey. After a while, I realized, as the first step of getting to use my blog through phone, it is better that I carry out this step when I'm less mobile with a better connectivity.
So on getting back home, later yesterday, I sat down to sort this once and for all. And, here I'm trying this out the first time through my phone. God save technology !!
Peace,
$ur