Personal Weblog of Deepak Vasudevan

Winamp wins the deal in my PC My resource crunched computer was having issues playing a few media files. After a little of haggling, negotiations and bargain, the deal gets clinched.  Winamp takes over as an official media player. It has more powerful features: Support for an extensive media formats. Faster loading Lesser memory footprint Lesser UI to paint for Windows (means less load on the CPU and (graphical) memory

Who told a personal home PC can not have stringent restrictions? It is a common illusion that if it is a home PC exposed and hooked to Internet we can surf at any nonsense websites inviting more raja/tama into our hearts. No way. My PCs always had stringent access controls loaded into them. Being a technical architect by profession I also ensure that my PCs are built with security walls for ethics and normal functioning as well. Just thought I would share a snapshot of advertisement loaded in Yahoo Mail (opened in new Tab for better illustration) which got kicked by the parental control powered by OpenDNS.

Solicitation of Politics I recently received an email asking me about a political situation review. Curtly I sent back the response 'Bad request. Request rejected'. I always maintain the stand to keep aloof of politics in any sort. The nations administration alone need politics and the stalwarts managing the nation know how to tackle it. Politics anywhere else is only disastrous and is going to do no good. I just thought I would share this view too. The next time if he is going to solicit political view I am going to send him a PayPal invoice. I do have a lot of philanthropic commitments on the way to meet with.

Google Chrome -- The Choice Web Browser I am currently using Google Chrome as the choice web browser leaving behind FireFox for  few days since now. Internet Explorer hasn't been in my list because of shortcomings with respect to my browsing habits including its preference to flood my taskbar whereas the other browsers target tabs in lieu of windows. The other cute things I like in Chrome are: V8 Scripting Engine (which is blazingly faster)[Warning: A number of websites might break if they use incompatible scripts] If a website is taking too much resource just hit Shift+Escape to invoke Chrome Task Manager and kill that tab alone. Even within the tab, Shockwave Flash, AddOns are separately listed. So if these components are malfunctioning, it is easy to 'cut their tails'.

நெற்றிக்கண் திறப்பினும் குற்றம் குற்றமே  There were a few comments on my Views and Reviews vehemently opposing the bad things (service or products) or shortcomings. I just thought of clarifying this here. The purpose of V&R is give an unbiased opinion on a product or service besides bringing out a healthier review platform. On these fronts I don't think some lazy assholes can expect I would budge by their demands of not writing about them. Let them turn ethical and I would appreciate them first. If they are unethical they would need to witness a critical review. That is what my Tamil has taught me. You can hear the verses from the rich Tamil lifestyle over here (Thiruvilayadal and Vettaikaran) Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

Watching Inidhu Inidhu today Today being Friday and a weekend just came to my home a bit early. Then drove to a nearby theater to watch Inidhu Inidhu . The film seemed to have been just released by Aug 20 and I have watched it in a week's time. I believe this is one of the first films which I see in its nascent stage. I have never had an tighter interest and/or affinity to films. So what has caused this change to be swept in? Was that the signs of my alma mater  in the movie? A little relaxation after the really hectic week? A little soothing comfort to the aching soul and the paining heart? Coming back to the film it does not have any long running stories, fights or like that. However it takes you back to your college days that demonstrates an innocent smile, flawless friendship and an affectionate love. As the climax of the story reveals the farewell is a very painful one. After four years of being together this is the most cruel day to strew the tight-bound friends apa...

The Annual Ritual of Yajur Upakarma Today is Yajur Upakarma. Quite similar to Deepavali 2009 there has been an interesting date clash with Yajur Upakarma this year too. India and Eastern countries were directed to observe Yajur Upakarma on 24th and Gayatri Japam on 25th whereas UK, USA (and westward) were to observe both on 24th itself. This was in line with the directions from Sri Ahobila Mutt. Whereas the Srirangam calendars and the priests at Ranganatha temple, Pomona NY were holding the point that the Indian calendar could be upheld across the globe too. A few smartha priests were opining that either way should be looking good and befitting the convenience of the users. My sincere thanks to the following people for helping me to complete the Yajur Upakarma in a very pious and religious way. Vimala Rajaji mami for helping with the things through mail in a quick way. Ahobilam.com team for quickly rewriting the Sankalpam and emailing the same one night before according ...

Happy Rakshabandhan to my sisters Rakshabandhan comes tomorrow (August 24 2010). I would be little busy the whole day as it coincides with Yajur Upakarma (Avani Avittam). Hence I just thought I would share the Raksha Bandhan wishes on the eve of Raksha Bandhan . In the wellbeing of my fraternity lies the greatness of India With the sweet fragrance of the greatness of India alone lies my happiness.

நான் நினைத்த திருநாள் ஒருநாள் இதுதானே ... As my twitter would have expressed, today greets me as most happiest day for LavanyaDeepak. Our kitten 'Prathiba's wedding invitaton finally started to rollout. And today is my school classmate Priya's wedding anniversary too. Let us wish her a 'Happy Wedding Anniversary'. It was this day (August 23 2009) that my wedding cards started to rollout. We did have a few scenic developments that serve(d) as a hallmark of the year. It was Ganesh Chaturthi of 2009 too. நூறு வண்ணங்களில் நீ சிரிக்கும் பனி தூங்கும் புஷ்பங்களே ஆசை எண்ணங்களை மிதக்கும் அடியேனை வாழ்த்துங்களேன் வான வெளியில் வலம் வரும் பறவை நானும் அதுபோல் எனக்கென கவலை காற்று என் பக்கம் வீசும் போது காலம் என் பேரை பேசும் போது வாழ்வு எனது வாசல் வருது; நேரம் இனிதாக யாவும் சுகமாக [ கவிதை பாடு குயிலே குயிலே இனி வசந்தமே ]

Twitter is over capacity Not sure what is causing the issue but today morning I have been seeing the following message 'Twitter is overcapacity' consistently as below: For very brief thought sharing I normally share it out through my tweets at http://www.twitter.com/lavanyadeepak/  

Yippee! I am now empowered with Anti-spam engine for Comments too The blogger has recently introduced 'Spam Detection' for comments too as it showed in the Comment Moderation panel. I think this should bring to an end the nasty funky chinese comments and those of the viagra flavor. Should your blog get one, take the rifle and shoot it down and throw that into the 'Spam' oven to bake it. Spam is really tasty.

A real soul-stirring and encouraging music ... The film Autograph has another soul-stirrer and a definitive encouraging song for everyone in all phases of life. You can watch the song here. It makes one so sit straight even in the most depressed condition. Some of the promising verses are: நம்பிக்கை என்பது வேண்டும் நாம் வாழ்வில் லட்சியம் நிச்சயம் வெல்லும் ஒரு நாளில் (We would need to nurture fond hopes in the lives to enlighten it and embrace the victory and accomplishment of the objectives) மனமே ஓ மனமே நீ மாறிவிடு மலையோ அது பனியோ நீ மோதி விடு (O Mind. Realise, Repent and Change Yourself. Hill or Valley -- Let us encounter it) உளி தாங்கும் கற்கள் தானே மண் மீது சிலையாகும் வலி தாங்கும் உள்ளம் தானே நிலையான சுகம் காணும் (The stone that endures the drills only gets morphed into a statue which becomes a timeless elegance and beauty. No pains; No gains)

Rid the past and Greet the novel It has been time since the blog design was revamped. Today it had undergone a major overhaul and more shiny look and feel. The design that is more robust to handle the elements and search/user-friendly. Care has been ensured so that there is not much learning curve for the users navigating through the blog.

Enakke Enakku Ennai Pidikka Villai ... Today had a chance to view Autograph the classic Indian movie in Tamil directed, produced and starred by Cheran. Many would know and recall the poem 'Gnapakam varuthe ...', which I admit is evergreen melodious. But there is another touching song called "Ninaivugal nenjinil" which even embraces the heart so much and melts it down. At least Senthil ('Cheran') got a good friend Sneha to capture him back from the scary whirlpools. I really pity a few souls who are not even blessed with such beacon light. To the depressed there becomes a situation that neither anyone seems to be listening to them nor life-breath is comfortable anymore. Not sure how come the people who have the upperhands are able 'trash the oppressed as paper-cups'. I am not a world-guru but just another casual friend. At least this blog post I dedicate this post as a soothing comfort for the oppressed. This particular sentence took me 45 minutes to c...

A Brief Shanip Pradosham Pooja Today Today being saturday (weekend-holiday) I just thought of doing a small Shanip Pradosham Pooja. Pradosham on Saturday is considered very auspicious and is called as Shanip Pradosham. The next Shanip Pradosham seems to be on August 21 of this month. Screen clippings and sectional music chantings have been compiled into a video below.

The Greatness of Sri Rama :: One-To-One in the Family After killing Ravana, Lord Rama is resting on a rock. He notices a shadow approaching him. He realises that the shadow is that of a woman. He does not lift His eyes to see who it is, for, Lord Rama never looks at any woman other than Sita. As the shadow nears Him, Lord Rama pulls His feet up, and sits with His legs folded. This is to avoid even the shadow of the unknown woman touching His feet. So careful is He that none other than His wife should touch Him. Lord Rama is particular that even the shadow of another woman should not touch Him, said M.V. Anantapadmanabhachariar, in a discourse. The shadow is then seen to recede. Lord Rama wonders who it is, who had come so close to Him and had yet retreated. So He inquires who the person is. The shadow is that of Mandodari, and she discloses who she is. Lord Rama asks her why she is there. She says she heard that Ravana was killed in battle. Ravana had been a king who had s...

My Aadip Perukku Lunch @Pizza Hut We just saw about the Aadip Perukku @Virginia over here . Just thought I would share a few photos of my Aadip Perukku lunch, courtesy Pizza Hut.

I had a few Amazon Gift Certificates pending redemptions thanks to Symantec which I just thought would make use of them and purchase a Coby DVD Player which had been lying around in my wishlist for a seemingly long time. Perhaps for those interested here are the discussions on the three gift certificate awards: http://lavanyadeepak.blogspot.com/2010/06/winner-of-symantec-connect-gift.html http://lavanyadeepak.blogspot.com/2010/07/another-victory-with-symantec-connect.html http://lavanyadeepak.blogspot.com/2010/08/winner-of-symantec-connect-gift.html After browsing through the Amazon catalog I choose the Coby DVD player which was the affordable and comprehensive one for home entertainment purpose. It took more than four days anyway to deliver because I opted from Free Supersaver Shipping that comes via normal USPS .

Aadi 18 ம் Perukku from Virginia Today is 18th day of Aadi, which is observed with great reverence amongst the people of peninsular India. Miles away from home is not going to be an excuse for not celebrating Aadi 18 ம் Perukku. Gange cha Yamune chaiva Godavari Saraswati, Narmade Sindhu Kaveri jalesmin sannidhim kuru prayers bring the holy rivers to me to Virginia. Furthermore, with the affectionate and true beliefs did bring the memory and flow of river Cauvery to the small community pool all within my gated closed community complex. Just thought I would share a couple of more hyperlinks which bring in mouth-relishing festival feasts to the desktop: http://vegetarian-dishes.blogspot.com/2010/08/aadi-18-perukku.html (Thanks to Aparna for sharing the same)

It was Suresh Kalpathy in 2003 and now Suresh Kalmady in 2010 What came out as a biggest scam and deafening corporate misappropriation brought the downfall of 3rdAgenda, Chennai's the then blooming web development company. The misdirections started once 3rdAgenda was taken over by SSI Technologies, then headed by Suresh Kalpathi. Suresh' had virtually ripped off the then CEO as one of the interview with Ganesh Mandalam reveals "I would have thought twice about sharing equity and consequently ownership, in the way that we did earlier.". Check out the complete interview here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0EB2Q2KL Next this year sees a similar crank in India called Suresh Kalmady who is facing CWG corruption charges. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85UutBfEHIY&feature=player_embedded Kalpathy then, Kalmady now, who is going to be the next Kamnaati* ? [* Kamnaati in Tamil means the most obscene and vulgar fraud]

Sify snores off everyday at 4 AM to 5.30 AM Indian Time The Internet World Wide Web is regarded as a 24x7 office and Email is considered a P ersonal A ssistanct to us 24x7. I admit that email services need a routine maintenance. But definitely these should not be on a daily basis right? But interestingly the whole of past two weeks Sify Mail demonstrated this attitude. Around 4 AM to 5.30 AM Indian Time Sify gets to turn off the servers I believe. When you try logging on, it just spells out a conflict in logon request as illustrated below: I have reported the same to Sify Team too and I would keep you posted with any updates received from there.