Author: nipon

The proposed pay hike for medical interns and housestaffs ain’t gonna happen. http://pranabchatterjee.wordpress.com/2009/04/27/tune-of-the-day-monday-april-27-2009/

Version 8 onwards Yahoo Messenger boasts of a completely revamped interface. Everything – from how plugins are handled to how notifications sound – have been spruced up completely. Ever felt an urge to get back the old sounds? I did. I have a liking for the old sounds. Agreed that the new sounds are less intrusive, that is to say, don’t mess up your concentration in a big way and are probably suited to the no-frills chat of these days, pioneered by Gtalk I should say. But folks seriously into instant messaging may just find the old sounds perfect. And although I rarely use YM nowadays, I miss the knock-knock-knock when somebody comes online or the creeking of a less-oiled door if somebody leaves, sounds which have been etched into my memory!

So here’s how you can reclaim the sounds from the past!

DOWNLOAD Yahoo Messenger Old Sounds

1. Download the pack of old sounds from the link above.
2.  Extract the files from the archive. (by using Winrar for example)
3. Copy all the files to this folder X:/Program Files/Yahoo!/Messenger/Media (where ‘X’ is the drive letter where your ‘Program Files’ folder is located, most often it is ‘C’). In the file replace dialog box that pops up, select ‘Replace All’ to replace the default sounds with your favourite sounds.
4. There is no 4th step. 😀 You are all set to enjoy the original YM sounds!

Right now, I am reading Atlas Shrugged. In this novel, Ayn Rand further expands the ideas and philosophies she introduced in Fountainhead. Ayn Rand’s writings have inspired millions of souls. I have learnt to think in a complete new way. I have learnt to value individualism. I have known about many theories so far unheard to me, ideas I had no clue about. I have jotted down my thoughts on Ayn Rand’s writings here – Thoughts on Ayn Rand’s Novels.I just finished reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Khaled Hosseini’s writing is rich in graphic imagery, drawn in vivid detail using plain and simple language. It was heart-wrenching – he knows how to pull every cord in the reader’s heart. The novel is like a condensed history of Afghanistan – before and after the Talibans. Khaled Hosseini’s family stayed in Afghanistan till 1980 after which they received political assylum in US. He is a doctor trained in US. He has now given up medical practice though and works with the UN. There’s a link on his website where you can donate to Afghanistan’s welfare. Last year, I also read the more recent Hosseini novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns. This one is even better than The Kite Runner, if you ask me. This enduring novel spanning decades, set in the Afghanistan, follows the tumultous lives of 2 Afghan women and how their lives cross each other, and proclaims that love will continue to bloom in young hearts even as nations fall apart in destructive wars.

Another book I plan to read very soon is Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Not long ago, I read Brida by the same author. Paulo Coelho’s ideas are great. It says – Magic is a bridge between the visible and invisible world… and that magic is…. love. Then another idea I liked was this – Everyone is a mirror of yourself. So don’t think too much about others. There was yet another line I am unable to recall right now.

Last Pujo vacation, I was reading Inheritance of Loss, the 2006 Booker Prize winner by Kiran Desai. She is the daughter of Anita Desai whose piece is included in the +2 English syllabus of Delhi board.  The setting of Inheritance of Loss is Kalimpong and Darjeeling and the story delves into the hill movement of the 80s – things I had vague ideas about but didn’t know clearly enough. Came to know from the book what really happened back then, up there. Just as life in a retired judge’s house in a sleepy hill town is supposed to be, the speed of the novel is also slow. It progresses very slowly and there are often flashbacks from the past, in the form of the recollections of the judge’s early life. It is so well written that one can actually feel the clouds that clog the windows all day long, smell the heavy air in the judge’s decaying old house or savour the foods prepared by Noni and Lola, the rich sisters who often fly to London. The story goes in a direction opossite to what the reader’s heart wants. One would wish Biju would settle himself well in the US which was never too happen. Nor can Sai and Gyan continue their romance against the backdrop of a ethnic rivalry brewing in the hills. The ending of the story was meant to be like that, not a happy ending.

I am still reading Atlas Shrugged and wish to do a lot more reading in near future. I have a huge to-read list. Time is a constraint though. With all the departments going great guns, there is hardly any breathing space!

Hoorah! Today I received a Spread Firefox t-shirt from the SFX community. I am among the top 250 Firefox affiliates for quite some time and last quarter I was lucky enough to be selected as a featured affiliate which earned me the coveted Featured Fox award and this tee! This was due for some time and finally it came by UPS courier today all the way from US. This is the second Firefox t-shirt I’ll get to flaunt since I already wear the one I received with my Campus Rep swag pack.

I am no gamer as such. I am not into games really. But there was a time I was hooked to it! Back in the days of class 9, I was playing Age of Empires and later, Max Payne. Mainly these two kept me occupied. That apart, I also played the many demo games that came on CHIP magazine (now Digit) CDs. I also took generous doses of Fifa, Tropico and another RTS (real time strategy) game, not much heard of, called Zeus – The Master of Olympus.

The Payne Shot

Out of all these games, I loved playing Max Payne the most. Max Payne, arguably the best game of 2001, was a whole new FPS (first person shooter) experience where the environment not only looked real but also acted real, where it was not just about shooting but about getting involved with the story. 3 years in the making, Max Payne boasted of great graphics, superb music, bullet-time slow motion, cinema sequences (inspired by John Woo) and noir storytelling.

Overdose of Painkillers & Ammo!

Though I used to be a casual gamer and never a die-hard one, yet all the gaming hours took a heavy toll on my studies (with me sliding from 1st rank in first term to 4th rank in final term in class 9, and Maths score dwindling from 97 to a paltry 71), enough to make my parents alarmed! I had to get rid of games then. Afterwards, I lost interest in games whatsoever.

The Fall of Max Payne

Once again, I was tempted to return to game mode when I heard the release of Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. Unfortunately, the desktop at home was replaced by that time and the new one had no graphics card and Max Payne 2 was quite demanding on the system requirements. Had to put my plans on hold for the time being. As soon as I got a laptop (in 2007) which is loaded with a decent ATI graphics card, I decided to complete my unfinished mission! So here I was, once again chasing down thugs in the streets of New York on a harsh winter night – enter Max Payne 2! It sure was a hugely satisfying gaming experience with all the greatness Max Payne is about. (It was somewhat easy gameplay though and less challenging than MP 1 in some way). After finishing the game, I wished it had never ended! My heart was heavy after the tragic ending and what better end credits track could it have been, to capture the mood, than the Late Goodbye by Poets of the Fall. It’s a fantastic track that I loved so much. I listened to it over and over again and learned the lyrics by heart. Soon my interest grew in POTF.

Poets of the Fall

This alt rock band from Finland shot to success after their single Late Goodbye of Max Payne fame (reaching millions of Max Payne fans) became a huge hit. Another single Lift featured in the popular benchmarking software 3D Mark 05. Soon came out 2 albums in succession – Signs of Life (2005) and Carnivals of Rust (2006) both of which hit platinum sales figures in Finland. One can get their songs from the all new POTF online shop or from iTunes. Last year, they released their third album Revolution Roulette. This one, I am afraid ain’t as good as their previous two albums. Okay, it does have some good songs. But has been a major disappointment overall. It just failed to live up to the expectations. Hope the poets will rock in their 4th album.

I have been hearing about it for quite some time. I was desperately hoping to lay my hands on it more than a year ago but it was still not available in the market. (So I had to buy the wireless data card from Reliance instead). Well I am talkin about the BSNL EVDO Card – the wireless data card solution from BSNL, the big momma of all telecom companies in India. Not long ago, may be a few months, I heard of its arrival in the market and Johnda got hold of one. Now I have borrowed it from him and all set to try it out.

First Thoughts

I run the installer to install the modem drivers – takes about just a minute – and the device is ready for use. I am pleased to see that the dialer software has a cool interface. On clicking connect and firing up Firefox, the pages start loading so fast that my jaw drops for a while! Man this is really impressive! Never expected such fast surfing speeds – almost like broadband – especially after my pathetic wireless experience before. I must say I am really impressed. 🙂

The Data Card

The USB card looks the same as the one I got from Reliance. The maufacturer is same too – ZTE. The model number is AC8700.

Speed

Siliguri: The connection is very stable and speeds are awesome. I am getting download speeds of 400-500 kbps which is just too good for wireless internet. Mind this is the speed I am getting in my medical college area where the signal is not that strong. The speed is supposed to be more. It can be upto 2.4 mbps but it depends on the signal strength. Also you need the EVDO signal which is not available in all places I am told. So what you can do is borrow from a friend and check if you are getting EVDO signal in your locality.

Kolkata: The speeds are not that great. The EVDO network has not rolled out yet, except some select areas of Sector Five and Rajarhat Newtown. The CDMA 1x network gives a speed of about 100 kbps and recorded a highest of 161 kbps.

Driver

A mini CD contains the necessary drivers for Windows XP/2000. There is no bundled driver for Vista or Linux. But fret not, you can get download them from ZTE website.

Price & Tariff

The BSNL EVDO modem is available for Rs. 3500/- The monthly tariff is 550/- Now that is good value for money considering there is no download limit. Billing is post-paid.- Effectively you have to cough up a sum of 4192/-at the time of purchase that includes an activation fee of 500/- and taxes.

How to buy

Go to your nearest telephone exchange and fill up a form. You need to produce some address proof. You will get the EVDO modem that day itself.

Final Word

This is the perfect product for those in the need of wireless internet connection. There is a huge market of wireless internet which has not been efficiently tapped by any company so far. Now BSNL has come up with something really great but they suck at marketing! Hardly anyone knows about this wireless data card option. There is almost no advertising. Any other telecom company would have got a product like this endorsed by SRK perhaps! I wish this was available for sale in computer shops. Who has the time to go to the exhange always?

Today I watched Dev D. It was the 6.30 evening show at Navina. The crowd was enthusiastic as ever. The cheers and jeers perfected with comic timing makes watching movies here all the more fun. As for the movie, well I liked it and I wrote a review of Dev D on Bong Buzz.

Sharatchandra’s works have not only translated the barrier of time, but have been translated in all the major Indian languages as well. He is equally popular in all these languages. It is said that he is so popular in South India, many there mistake him to be an author from there.

Sharatchandra himself attempted to translate গৃহদাহ into English. It was never complete. He could translate the first few chapters. I read the piece long ago. It is worth appreciating that Sharatchandra used French to translate the phrase ‘অভিমান ক্ষুণ্ন কন্ঠস্বরে’. He wrote – ‘in a tone of amour propre’.

I have read all the works by Sharatchandra, my favourite author. That includes all novels, short stories, plays, letters, essays, unfinished works, most of which I had read in school years. Whatever I was yet to read, I completed reading in the first two years of college. By the third year in my college, I had already read Srikanta 4 times, Pather Dabi 3 times, all his novels and short stories at least twice – with the exception of Grihadaha which I fully read only once, a fact that can be attributed to its huge volume, but I reread it in parts many times.

I remember reading Sharatchandra all the time. My teen years were full of his novels. Every vacation I would read his works, again and again. I have been out of touch for years though. I invite all fans of the great author to join the Sharatchandra group I created on Facebook. Sharatchandra Facebook group