The iMac, and it's (Hypothetical) Problems

(That's the entire iMac, wires and all. There are 5 external wires. No complicated jungle of overgrown enamelled wire.)

And now to the point:
I need games! And not some cheap games that even I can program on the computer(Yes, and if I can program them, you can imagine justt how cheap I mean). I want games like The Sims, SimCity4000, Evo 4X4, Halo, Delta Force and the like. But no, Aspyr Media has decided not to sell the games in India. WHAT THE SHIT ABOUT THE MILLION ODD MAC. USERS IN THIS COUNTRY, HUH?!
Stupid international policy. As far as I know, almost every game has a Mac variant that is internationally sold. Almost anything from The Sims to Driver to Tony Hawk Pro Skater to Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six has a Mac platform. But they willl not sell it here, will they? Twits. Morons. Idiots. And a host of other light insults.
I gess they are justified, in a sense. The Mac is a brilliant piece of engineering. Way better than Windows, Linux, or any other OS in the market. World-wide, it is highly acclaimed, but in tis country, it's just about catching on, and only really tech-savvy people would have any knowledge of tits capabilities. And if you're that tech-savvy, you probably work on the computer a lot. So, essentially, the Mac (In this country at least) is used as the ultimate work-station. Never crashes. More facilities. More power. Easy-to-use. But at a price - Specifically, Rs. 88,000. Ouch.
But for anyone else in this country, there are so many pre-concieved notions about Windows, that even software firms have had to make plans to seel only products for windows, and more recently, Linux(This OS being programmers choice and all...). So that Looks to be it for Mac. users, who are gonna have to wait quite some time befoe products are introduced for the Mac. X OS.
On top of that, my dad has blamed my games as the reason our old Compaq Presario crashed - ritualistically, once a year. Stupid Windows system. And so, he refuses to buy me any game at all. Cheap-skate. Now what do I do?!

I Got Mona's Pictures!!

Isn't this a lovely picture of Mona?

I went to her home 5 days ago(When this post was first up, without the photo being displayed..?), to meet her mum. I stayed there for about an hour, and we talked about Mona. About her love for dogs, her cheery persona, her permanent smile, and how she brought so much life to the house. Her mum was saying that she still can't get over her death. That she feels so lonely when she's at home. That Mona always made so much noise at home, and she kept telling her to be quiet so as not to wake up the neighbours, and now how she regrets saying that. How she couldn't really listen to a thing the teachers were saying at the programme held at J.N.C. for Mona. And how she still believes that Mona's just not at home. Out somewhere. Just like I believe that I'm dreaming, even though everyone and everything indicate that I am in fact, in a harsh, painful reality.
Enough of the morbid descriptions though. Dad bought more of this amazing music home. Its like Jazz, or Lounge, or something, but its fantastic! I have learn't to blindly buy any album realeased by the "Higher Octave" Label. Neither Sony, nor Virgin, Nor any other record company has such good taste in music. Every CD that I've ever heard, I've loved. It's just such good music. It extends to a few Gernres, like World, Lounge, Jazz, and the likes, but its the Creme De La Creme of these categories.
Just take my advice(I'm currently not using it) and buy any Album released with the Higher Octave Records label on it.
Verdict: 5 Stars.

The Mathematical existence Of God

Amidst all this talk about Aethism, God, Religion and so much else that seems to have creeped in, I came accross this very interesting uh, derivation(?!).
In 1970 sometime, Austrian mathematician Kurt Gödel wrote a 'Methematical' 'proof' for the existance of god. It goes something like this:
(Hey, another glitch, the O in Godel is supposed to have 2 dots on top of it... this site doesn't seem to have the capacity for these extra symbols. Please bear with the wierd looknig signs...)

Gödels's Mathematical Proof Of God's Existence

Axiom 1: (Dichotomy) A property is positive if and only if its negation is negative.

Axiom 2: (Closure) A property is positive if it necessarily contains a positive property.

Theorem 1: A positive property is logically consistent (i.e. possibly it has some instance.)

Definition: Something is God-like if and only if it possesses all positive properties.

Axiom 3: Being God-like is a positive property.

Axiom 4: Being a positive property is (logical, hence) necessary.

Definition: A property P is the essence of x if and only if x has P and P is necessarily minimal.

Theorem 2: If x is God-like, then being God-like is the essence of x.

Definition: NE(x): x necessarilt exists if it has an essential property.

Axiom 5: Being NE is God-like.

Theorem 3: Necessarily there is some x such that x is God-like.



Isn't it brilliant?? Though I'm not sure that I got it all, I hink I've pretty clearly understood right till Axiom 5. Most scientists, logicians, mathematicians still can't understand every part of it, so it remains a mystery, but it seems to have a (mystical, yet) strong foundation - don't you think?
I am most compelled to believe in God's existance, but I stand my ground very firmly. This is a brilliant piece to ponder about though(So next time you're asked to host an assembly, you know what to talk about!!).
There are so amny fascinating instances of math being applied(is that right...?) everywhere that the whole world takes an entirely different meaning. It's all part of this book called "Wonder Of Numbers". Admitted the name does not sound most enthralling, but if you see it anywhere, you must blindly pick it up. A must read, if only to raise questions about the very foudation of our mathematics.
Verdict: 5 Stars.

Toothpaste And Grammar

My dad is simply amazing! Sure, everyone's dad is amazing, but you just gotta look at this one.
There's this post on his site(You can view it by clicking the title - it's a link to the page) on which he talks about the usage of toothpaste, and how you really don't need as much as you probably use.
Sure, you must be thinking, "Yeah, OK. So this guy's dad figured out what's being taught to us in high school. Pssht. Whats the big deal?" The thing is, the entire post(And its a mighty large one) is just ONE SENTENCE!! It's simply brilliant! Even if you copy-and-paste it in word, it will not show up as a gramatical fault. it's pristine!
So I guess Posting(Is that accepted? - The capital 'p' I mean) is as much an art as Painting, or Archery, or Karate.

Dreams

Dreams really do reflect so many parts of our life (or lack of it), our ambitions, our goals, our whims and fancies. But more importantly, I think that our dreams help us explore parts of our brains that we are completely unable to unlock through the realm of consciousness.
Last night I dreamt of flying, and we were flying in a Lego airplane (That I have designed myself in reality)and that it had an open top('cause my aircraft looks really funny with a hatch as it has to end abruptly). That’s when I started thinking – I snapped away from the rest of my dream and got into this 3-D world where the half finished model was rotating around so I could see all its sides and all – of a way to make another, much better looking and more workable model, something that has not struck me for 3 years in reality even though I have put so much thought into it.
Thee brain is a truly amazing thing. I’m sure that it can take you to places you never imagined possible. So many people have even dreamt of the future - most famous is of course, Nostradamous(Pardon me if its not spelt right) - and predicteed events. People have had out-of-body or Astral projections. I believe that the brain is capable of much more than its restricting 3-Dimentions of the concious world. When they say that we use less than ten percent of our brain, it just fails to strike us just how much more there is to use.
Take, for example, the numbers Googol and GoogolPlex. it is 1 followed by 100 Zeros. Just writing the number makes us think of a huge length of paper. It goes something like this:
10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000.
Huge, no? Now, imagine the number GoogolPlex. A GoogolPlex is 1 followed by a GOOGOL NUMBER of zeroes. that does not mean 1 followed by 101 zeroes. that means the value of Googol, like the value of 1 Million. Actually writing 1 million Zeroes after 1. Like that, ACTUALLY WRITING the COUNTING VALUE of a GOOGOL NUMBER of Zeroes.
This concept is not understood by most people on this planet. This includes many highly scientific minds. Yet, this concept has been understood by children in single-digit ages. Just goes to show that we seem to be most productive when young, and that the brain just keeps dieing as we "Mature".
So, use your brains while you're still young, or you'll never be able to regret later!

Mona

Mona. I just realised that I didn't have any pictures of her at all. The number of times we were with her and never thought of taking pitures. After all, where was she going anyways? Anytime we needed her company we'd just call and we were off to ITPL or to a play or something or the other.
And then it happened. After a late night at a friends house, I was on my way back and for a lark thought I'd sing really loudly to see if I could wake Mona up. With no reply, though, I ended up sleeping by around 3:00 AM. Next morning I get a call from Abhay asking me to come to Mona's place, cause she's passed away. Just like that. I didn't believe it, even after he asked me to get my parents along. It wasn't until I actually got to her lane and saw lots of cars and even more people at Mona's house that I started to believe that something was really wrong.
The closer I came, the more uncomfortable I felt. I refused to believe that something(let alone death) had happened to her. And then it happened. I walked up the driveway I knew what I had been dreading since that call. One look at her dad, and I knew it had happened. I walked into the living room - and got the shock of my life. There was Mona, in the middle of the room, wrapped in a deep blue saari, with a gauze around her jaw. It still refused to strike me, or I refused to accept it.
Shock. Disbelief. Horror. Denial. It still refuses to lodge itself in my factfile. Now I know what they mean when they say "Like A Dream". The whole day just seemed so unreal. So unbelievable, yet so accurate, as if someone was trying very hard to blur the lines between sublime dreams and a harsh reality. Even now I think that I'll just call her up a little later and that I'll tell her what a scary dream I'd had. I've tried everything - from pinching myself, to showering thrice with cold water - just to wake me up from this dream that I sincerely wish that I was in.
She just turned 25 in October. She hadd plans to work really hard, get her own place, get a car, and eventually settle down. She loved the same music I did, and more(I must say, she had really good taste), and now I'm feeeling so bad, cause I promised to give her some tapes she'd been looking for forever. So this is what happens when you postpone things. We never quite got down to doin most of the stuff we planned. So much for our grand plans of when I was legally was allowed to party, or stay out late, or other (nafarious?) activities.
You know about those stories where a guy one day goes to his fathers house(who he hasn't talked to in years), rings the bell, and says,"Dad, I love you." Next day the guy dies. Sure, that strikes a chord in your heart. But it's not until you've actually experienced something like that till you really know how it feels.
Just try and imagine how hard it is to lose a parent or grand-parent. Painful. But hey, you knew their time was coming sooner or later, so there was that cushion to fall on - they had lived their lives, and were heading West now. Then imagine losing your child. What the...?! Where did she go to? You never expected that to happen to you, did you? Imagine the hurt a parent feels when they have to cremate/bury/(which ever custom you follow) their child. Their CHILD. Her mother even remarked,"I never thought I'd touch her when she was this cold." Then imagine losing your friend. And not just any friend. Your really really really close friend. Someone you dearly love. Ouch.
I guess a few more visits to the temple are in order. Maybe, even though I don't believe(Yet?) if she did, then I guess the only way left to reach her would be through the house of God?
I hate the Sandman. What a bad dream this is... Not one thing is going right. Mona dies, then I can't reach her cremation in time, then friends come over and try hopelessly to cheer me up, and finally I fall asleep in my own dream. I wake up the next morning, go to college, break down, come home, write on my blog, and try very hard to forget my dreams. The main problem with this particular dream is that I don't think I'm gonna wake up anytime soon... but when I do, the first thing I'm gonna do is call up everyone I know and tell them just how much they mean to me.

A Visit To The Temple

A visit to the temple. A routine(If not regular) cycle for the average Indian. Unless you're an aethist. To me, going there is just a waste of time - a bad waste of time. There are so many other, better ways of wasing time than going to a temple to offer money to someone(thing?) that you know does not really need it - especially when it can have American dollars instead! None-the-less, I was firmly(but not forcefully) dragged along to the temple with my parents because "It would do me good.". Yuk. Oh, the time I could have spent playing squash, or surfing the internet... sigh. I never really an affinity for temples, or other places of worship. Idols of our perception and imagination don't exactly charge me up.
This particular visit, however, was a total shocker. When I did go in there,I did feel more calm and composed, and more in control of myself than usual. I jokingly even thought to 'God' - "Hey there - presuming you exist - i hope you know that the stuff bout Heaven and God being just a menifstation of the devil[I'll post that one shortly, along with a mathematical existance of god] an all. You being the 'All Forgiving One' ought to knnow anyways... One more thing, please take care of Dadaji(I know he's up there. No way he coulda reached Hell) and tell him that I miss him terribly. I love him. Thanks mate!" The strange part here is that I actually meant what I said, as if I was really saying it to someone(thing??) and that hopefully he/she/it would ttake notice. It's a strange feeling, especially for someone like me, being very firmly aethist an all. Anyone with a similar experience...? Speak up.

McDonalds

I finally went to McDonalds at the Foum today - with my parents. Here's a tip - if you've got parents like mine, DON'T GO THERE. They simply hated the place(As did I, so I really don't see why I wrote that.. Hehe...). But what made it really annoying(I seem to have an affinity for "strange" and "annoying", no?) was that while me an my sister waited brushing shoulders with sick sweaty saree wearing women (an men - i think... YUK!!!) my parents were sitting in the Honda listening to jazz. And then when I call them there, they promptly go and grab a table and leave me and my sister(who can be thoroughly incompetent) to carry three trays from the bottom to the top. And, of course, knowing my sister, she dropped all three cokes.
Enough of dissin my family... you guys know I didn't mean it! But yeah, the entire McDonalds excursion was as far waay from "I'm Lovin' It!" as is possible. I mean sure, the guys other side of the counter are nice an all, even when it comes to customers who spit in their faces while ordering(ya, I saw it happen - GROSS!!) but thats not it at all. The portions are so small, they'd make pin-point of light look gigantic. Not to mention the fact that everything tastes just like everything else. Yes, the MahrajaMac tasted just like the CrispyChinese which tasted just like the PaneerWrap which tasted just like the FrenchFries(Minus the extra salt, thank god). And its not like any of the food tasted good. Even KFC(Yes, the same KFC of oil (in)fame) is better. Not even the packaging was in any way appealing. As you unwrapped your "meal", you saw this vast mountain of waste pile up infront of you, anong with the ketchup, which was on the paper mat(cause they forgot to give you a plastic bowl to put it in). There was definitely more wrapping than the food. No wonder so many people around the world are uh, the way they are[ ;-) ]. Especially in countries like The States, where these fast-food places like Burger-King and McDonalds are everywhere, even where there's no telephone or petrol-pump. I'm amazed that with this (lack of) quality McDonalds has become so famous and (GASP!) popular world-wide. Looks like this planet has some really bad taste. I'm definitely never gonna visit McDonalds again - EVA! Not even to see the look of anguish on peoples faces once they realise that they've just been duped by the worlds most popular toll-booth on the road to absolute horizontalness... not to mention brain-sappingness.
Verdict: 1/2 star.

Friends(?)

Is it just me, or does everyone get bored of their friends after a while(Whatever your definition of 'A While' may be)? I've started getting fed-up with my friends here, and I have absolutely no clue why. I dunno, they jst seem to become annoying after some time. It's raher awkward to talk to them after some thime, cause you don't wanna hurt their feelings, but you still want to tell them to back off. Maybe its the world conspiring against me, because it knows that my friends are essential to me. Maybe I'm setting my expectations too high. Or.... Mabye my friends are just becoming *$^@ing annoying afterall!

Law Vs Justice?

So I guess that everyone who disses Eminem will have to swallow a few of thier words after all. No matter what pollution he releases into the airwaves, he does tell the truth. Quote:
"Music can alter moods and talk to you.
Well can load a gun for you an cock it too?
Well, if it can, the next time you assault a dude,
Just tell the judge it was my fault and I'll get sued!
See what these kids do is..."

He does have a point. What sort of a law suit is it when a parent accuses a third party of "forcing" their ward to turn miscreant? Jeez, let the poorguy say what he wants to say, thats how he makes his living. It doesn't mean that you lose all sense of judgement an do what he says. This is why I think most American kids(and some adults too) are about the most idiotic people on the planet.
Sure, there may be a few exeptions(there always are), but a majority have no idea whats happening in their own country - let alone the rest of the world. Only 28% of Americans know their national bird - The Bald Eagle. Other claims included The Kangaroo(What The...?!) and Seagull. It's really sursprsing that a nation as ignorant as this holds the world(economically) in its fist. And with the president doing nothing to improve this morbid situation, it will just go on and on until a point where no furthur decay will be possible - I can't wait for that day. At least then someone who has some sense willl (hopefully) be in command.(Any comments on this one, Arjun?)