End of the Semester

So, the semester has finally ended! And I must say it was a hell of a journey. From a new style of studies to cooking it was a struggle all the way. Though battered and bruised, I am happy that I have survived.

I remember when I was shifting schools in 6th grade. I used to be in a smallish school and was transferring to a bigger school and my Maths teacher said (the subject I used to top every time in those days!) that I would find it hard to survive in the new school with no spoon feeding and a higher level of competition. And I think what her reaction would be when I meet her today after not only surviving but topping that school in 12th boards and now studying here in UoA.

I think the one semester has taught me a lot (ok! gimme something new).One, I just can't get up early whether it's a early class or a RA meeting. Two, I can actually study the whole night. Furthermore, nothing can motivate me to work .. unless there's a deadline in a few days.

Hmm.. the third is somewhat surprising and unfortunate because I used to love programming. Well, to be frank I used to be geeky in school. So while a football match was going on in the school, I would use the "free time" to sharpen my C++ skills. But somehow I have lost it. And this was reflected in my project's performances this semester where my performances was certainly below par though I managed to scrape through both.

And I understand, though partially, the value of friends and in general people. I was
helped and cared for throughout this period by people. There were some I knew before coming here but most were complete strangers. I bombarded them with questions and I always got patient replies. And I can't thank them all enough. It's not about studies or survival but about their goodness that I want to thank them for. Just for being selfless.

P.S. Well, this post was a very random one and with the blog title "Musings of an Unsettled mind" what else can you expect.

End of Semester

Yay!

Blog Changes

Wanted to shake a few things here

Side menu changes:

1. About me is pushed down: No one who don't know me will not reach here (unless he googles for Amit Wadhwa, and clicks on result# 5/6 :-/) (Edit: It doesn't look good down there, so its back up)

2. Check this out: The main change I wanted to do, I will try and list something there which I think is worth checking out. It will probably be a site/song which you can "check out" in 5 mins. Just to add a little more personal flavor to the blog

3. Slideshow: Cool little new gadget, fetches pics from picasa and shows it in your blog :) Google always tend to pleasantly surprise me. Next up should be Orkut album + picasa integration. I don't count adding a feed to picasa as integration.

Though I have screwed the layout a bit, That's a to do in December, when I am planning to switch to a better template.

Do let me know if you liked anything

Which Sites are you addicted to?

I just read a post on Natasha's blog where she talked about her addiction to orkut/ facebook etc.

Just wanted to know what sites are people addicted to. My personal list would go something like this:

1. Digg : Amazing web 2.0 news site. Unlike Orkut/facebook where the probability of finding a new scrap/message per hour is pretty low (unless you are as popular as Balaji with 600+ pals) the chances of finding something amusing is quite high on digg.

Alternate: reddit / slashdot

2. Orkut / Facebook: For obvious reasons

3. bash.org /qdb.us: A site which stores comical quote found on IRC. You won't find it that amusing If you have never been on IRC.

4. phdcomics.com : Esp. if you are a new reader, you HAVE to go through all the old stuff so there's a huge backlog.

5. Root of all evil (and good?) : iGoogle?! With all the RSS feeds for jokes/ news plus maps, product search and ofcoz the good old conventional search!

So what are your faves?!

All Souls procession day

The Procession had its beginnings in 1990 with a ritualistic performance piece created by local artist Susan Johnson, who was grieving the passing of her father. Inspired by Mexico's Dia de los Muertos holiday, Johnson felt she should honor her father in celebration and creativity. The performance was very well received and many artists were inspired to continue growing the Procession into its modern incarnation.

Details here

Pics from the event:

http://picasaweb.google.com/amit.amitwadhwa/AllSoulsProcessionDay

Fight or Flight

This was my status message for the last whole week in gtalk. And needless to say I got quite a few comments, Some funny, some from people who identified with the message and some asking me what does it mean and some tried to pick my morale up!

Well, the first thing, the message is inspired (stolen) from Heroes season 2 episode 5 title. I picked it up as it described my situation perfectly, I have a feeling I am not able to cope up here, the pressure of doing good, the environment, the away from home feeling, And I am thinking is it worth it? Should I Fight or Flight?

Am I alone in thinking so? I am sure am not.

But are we right in thinking so? I am not sure.

IS anybody gonna take the flight? NO way!

When is right time to call it quits? Do we always have to stand up and fight or should we calmly say "I tried doing it, but I am sure now I will fail(or not able to achieve my target)". So do you lower your expectations and if yes, by how much?

Even if you lower your target then won't it affect the benefit of Fighting or taking the thing in your hand at first place. What if you think "I have realized it's not possible for me to do it without loosing more than what I would gain if I tried to persevere through it".

I believe it takes a much bolder person to take a flight rather than to fight! It's easier to fail for us than to give up, its instinct of a human to get up and fight even if he knows it may be futile. Why? Coz getting up is heroic, we see it in the movies, we have that inspiring moments and decide why can't I do it? But are those moments of inspiration or insanity? That is decided by the outcome not your effort.

The basic question is till what time do you fight and when's the right time to take the flight .

Networks Midterm Rant

Damn it was bad,

Does MRAI works only for announcements? I doubt but others say so! Also how did i calculate 23*2=64! I'll never know i guess! Why I didn't write the OSPF routing table on my cheat sheet or the Decay equation of Damping. And Why the hell are there no choices in the papers! How can one remember all the nitty gritties in the technical papers (This applies to OS more as even a cheat sheet isn't allowed)

Anyways have to slog for OS, Midterm in less than 17 hours!