06 December 2014

Home Alone - I

Wify left on a two-week official trip to the states this morning. That leaves me home-alone, with more time than I know what to do with. On the flip side, it gives me an opportunity to catch up with certain things that I've been meaning to do but just didn't have the time for, and do some quiet thinking on some others.
This is going to be a series of posts to share my experience of being alone at home, along with finding out if I really can keep my promise of doing justice to 'things I wanted to do', or simply waste the time away on TV, web surfing, and sleeping.

04 December 2014

Seen on the web

Today I saw something on a blog I visit regularly. I paraphrase (well, kind of): "A year is a very long time; it is more than 1 percent of what you are left with." Think about it. It's perfectly true and a little discouraging. Or, a little scary, depending on how you see it. And we generally tend to consider our lifetimes as really long. In any case, it reminds us to use our time (or what's left of it) well. 
Cheers,
Aashish.

30 November 2014

Rewind

A few days back I purchased this online:

It's called Rewind. This little piece of plastic helps keep your earphone chords from becoming a tangled mess. You could use it to manage other chords too, with a little creativity ofcourse. 

09 November 2014

New Phone! :-)

My Nokia had been showing it's age lately and so it was overdue to be replaced by a better device. After much deliberation and reading numerous reviews I finally bought a new phone. It's a Micromax Canvas A1 with Android One (Magnetic Black)It's not only my first Android, but also my first touch-screen phone. I love it.  
It's a definite upgrade from the old Nokia: I'm especially impressed by the design of android user interface. Not to take anything away from Nokia, which made brilliant devices, but this is surely a breath of fresh air, to me. BTW, if you think this is going to be an in-depth review of the phone, I'm sorry to disappoint you: I'm only going to describe some of my likes and dislikes about the phone. If you find any of it helpful, you're most welcome. Now, on with the rest of the review.

26 October 2014

Where is 'home'?

"Ah! Just one more night and tomorrow we'll be on our way back home. Can't wait!", wify said as she settled down in bed at night.
We were in Delhi on our whirlwind visit to her in-laws and mine for Diwali and had started to miss Bangalore sooner than we expected. Technically, according to lots of people living away from their hometowns, we were already at home because, well, we were at home.
They would most probably hesitate/flinch at referring to their rented 'room' as home. To them, home is where and only where you grew up, and/or your parents live there. So when you are 'home' you are at your parents' place. Period.
I disagree. Respectfully.

12 October 2014

A 'Fast' Experience

Ever tried to fast for a day? I mean really, the real deal, no food and no water. I suggest you try it. Once. Just for the experience of it.
I tried it just the day before. Yes, it was worth it. :-)

07 October 2014

I need a new phone!

I have my eyes set on the Micromax Canvas A1 with Android One (Magnetic Black) . Planning to get it next month. ;-)
My current phone is a Nokia E63 (yeah, stone-aged, I know). It's not giving me any significant problems yet, but the A1 is just too tempting.

29 September 2014

Thought of the day

This is not a short working week; this is an awfully long Friday!
And we all know why is that: with Thursday and Friday off this week, a significant portion of the working population is effectively not working at all.

25 September 2014

Birthday Special

It was my birthday yesterday (24th Sept). Wishes poured in from friends and loved ones. Wife and I had a great time having our own little celebration. At work there was a little cake-cutting, courtsey of my dear colleagues. All in all, a great birthday, no question! Couldn't be better.
However, there was something other than the usual celebrations and wishes that made it even better.

22 September 2014

Make a list! Now!

Have you ever tried maing a to-do list, at work or otherwise? How many actually followed the list all the way to the end?
I often use it at work, and find it extremely useful. Especially on days when I have too many items on my plate and I can't focus on one thing without worrying about another at the back of my head. There are often days when I flit from one job to another, without giving each its due attention, wasting too much time switching, and end up tired, confused, and frustrated at the end of the day, not to mention very less productive.
Lists show the way to organize work and save the day!

20 September 2014

Updates!

I made a few changes around the site today: added an About page and moved the Photography Links page. See the tabs bar above.
That's all I have for today, sorry. New posts coming up in the next 2-3 days! :-)

Regards,
Aashish

15 September 2014

Doodling around

I've been doodling a bit today. Feeling slightly inspired by drawings on xkcd. 
Take a look.

14 September 2014

There's hope for you too - Part 3

Hope you liked the last two parts (part 1 and part 2). At the very least, I hope I was able to say what you wanted to hear, because that's what you were probably looking for.
Now, something a little helpful. Something that I try often.

12 September 2014

SMS? What's that?

When was the last time you actually sent a 'text', the good old-fashioned SMS?
I sent one today after countless days of using whatsnot messengers and such. I've been receiving texts for bank account updates, billing reminders, ads, but I haven't actually sent one to anyone in my contact list. For many days (months?).

11 September 2014

There's hope for you too - Part 2

Hello there! 
So, I’ll begin where I left off last time.
As I said, there is nothing wrong with your abilities, only with your belief about yourself. If you have thought about it dispassionately, you might have seen a hint of truth in there. If you haven’t, then I have something else for you.

09 September 2014

There's hope for you too

Dear Friend,
If you came here through a search for words like 'anxiety', 'self-help', 'self-esteem', 'self-confidence', 'inner critic', 'self-acceptance', then I might have something for you here. Read on, brother.

01 September 2014

Refreshingly Good 'Videos' :)

Hello Everyone!
How was your day? :)

Okay, how many of you know about TED (or ted.com)? Well, if you don't then you might be missing out on some very cool presentations by leading experts in various fields. Just google it, c'mon! You will be glad I told you about it. :)

29 August 2014

Reason in Tradition (Hint: they don't mix!)

Tradition and reason don't seem to go very well together. Mostly.
No egg/non-veg on any of the Hindu festivals. Here you may fill-in any such tradition that comes to your mind; this was just an example. Honestly, I don't see any substantial 'reason' for this abstinence. But then, reason and tradition are not the best of friends.

24 August 2014

Software Engineers of Bangalore: What's with the backpack, dude?

You don't need a keen eye to spot a quintessential software engineer on the streets of Bangalore. The city's lousy with them. In fact, you don't even need an eye: just hurl a brick with your eyes shut, and you are likely to hit one (or more!). I've known Bangalore for 8 years, I know! :-)

17 August 2014

New Lights on the Horizon!

I've already posted this on my facebook page, but I still felt like making a blog post out of it.
About a week back I bought a LED-equivalent of a 10W light-bulb (the type we use as a night lamp). It's just a light-bulb, so what's so exciting about it? Well, consider this: it only consumes 1/20th of the power of the regular one! That's right, its power rating is a meager 0.5W!
The reason for my excitement is that I've waited for the day when LED-based lighting would start to become economically feasible, when we could hope to buy LED light-bulbs for not-too-much money. And the day is upon me, apparently. :-)
Why all the fuss about LED's? Here's why.