Found this nifty tip on the internet. You can blog directly using MS Word (Office 2007/2010 only) .

Just open Word, and select New --> Post.
If you are posting for the first time, then you will have to enter the credentials for the blog account (in my case, Blogger or blogspot.com).

Once you finish your post, click "Publish" and voila! Your post will be created!

BBB zindabad!!

BBB zindabad!!

This is a post thanking the BBB (Better Business Bureau --> http://www.bbb.org/ ) for their help in getting an issue with an online merchant resolved for me. And hopefully it might help some other folks if needed in the future.

It all started in Sep 2010. I had ordered a few perfumes from FragranceX (http://www.fragrancex.com/) using my credit card online. The perfumes didn't come even after 3 months. So I wrote to them asking about the status.

Then started a series of "the package is in the mail" kind of replies. It was always the same story - "We have shipped the package, you should be getting it soon." Pretty soon I got frustrated and asked for a refund after 6 months had elapsed. But even for this request, I got the same replies - how much time is one expected to wait until a package comes from the US to India???

Then finally I thought about contacting BBB - USA. Basically BBB is an organization that holds businesses to a high standard, and only businesses with a high degree of integrity and trust make it to their list.

Snippet from their site:

BBB works closely with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, providing them with valuable information on potential frauds. Many times we are the first organization to know about a developing scam and alert authorities and the public.

I opened a case with the BBB. It was assigned to the New York chapter as FragranceX is based nearby, in NJ. To cut a long story short, after BBB followed up with FragranceX, the money got refunded!

The main thing to note for me was that I am based in India. Yet BBB helped me get a refund from a company based in the US.

Thanks, BBB!! I wish there were more organizations like you!!

Spare a thought for Gary Kirsten

Spare a thought for Gary Kirsten

The Indian cricket team is being lavishly praised, and rightly so!

But in the midst of all this, let's spare a thought for one man who has played a major role in us winning the World Cup - Gary Kirsten!

Gary came in after hurricane Chappel had left a trail of destruction in his wake. Many players had gone off-track in their careers - the most notable being Irfan. Others were low on confidence as "great" guru Chappel had messed up their minds.

Gary brought about a sense of calm to the team. He was the perfect coach for Indian conditions. He adjusted to our way of thinking, and went about his job systematically & sincerely.

He was always in the background, working hard at building team morale. He got in mental conditioning coaches to inspire the team at just the right moment.

At the same time he was very good at giving technical advice to those who were floundering; Gautam Gambhir being one of the most prominent ones to benefit.

Gary never said "I am the coach and whatever I say goes!". He always said "This is Dhoni's team". I don't think you would find a single Indian player who has bad things to say about him. And in our country, that counts for a lot :-).

Thank you, Gary. Hope you come back and take up this task again ...

IE 8 opening tabs slowly? There is a solution!

I recently upgraded to IE 8. The major problem that I faced with it was that a "New Tab" would open very very slowly - it was painful!
Then I did some Googling and found a post that said "Turn off Java Add-On for IE 8". And that worked! Now new tabs open like a charm ...
So in IE 8

1. Go to Tools --> Manage Add-Ons
2. Select "Toolbars and Extensions".
3. Disable the following 2:

• Java(tm) Plug-In 2 SSV Helper
• JQSIEStartDetectorImpl Class

Both are published by Sun Microsystems, Inc.

No need to restart IE - it should speed your browsing experience considerably.

Problems with opening CHM Help files from Network or Internet?

If you have problems opening/viewing CHM files that you downloaded, then this is how to view them properly.
This is due to a feature in Windows that tries to be overly helpful ...
Link: Problems with opening CHM Help files from Network or Internet - Rick Strahl's Web Log

Top funny source code comments

Some comments written by developers that are too funny for words.
Link: Top funny source code comments | cObaia.net

Poem from the movie "Seher"

Poem from the movie "Seher"

This is one of my favorite poems (Hindi). It is from the movie "Seher" (starring Arshad Warsi, 2005).
I don't know if this is from existing literature, or was written just for the movie. Either way, it is too good!

In the film, this is recited when a dear friend of one of the characters is killed.

Is kaali thandi aag ko
Wapas kar raha hoon main
Aur isi ke saath lauta raha hoon
Ye safed mitti
Ye gatiheen paani
Ye bairi hawa
Aur ye athaa aakash
Jo goonga hai

Yun to main jaanta hoon Ishwar
Ke Tum jaante the
Ke ek din main ye sab kooch
Isi tarah Tumhe wapas kar doonga ...

Day before yesterday I tried logging in to my Yahoo account, the one I am using since many years. I got an error message saying "This ID is not yet taken". I started panicking - was my account deleted by mistake or by a hacker maliciously????

Then reasoning took over. I tried to create a new account using the same ID. That attempt failed saying that the ID was not available as it was already taken. Phew! That means the ID was valid. First validation!!

I then sent a mail to that ID. It did not bounce. Double verification!!

Next I tried to contact Yahoo customer care. Here the fun part started.
For contacting Yahoo mail support services, the prominently visible
support links require you to login to mail first!! What about cases like mine where I can't login in the first case?? Nobody though of that?? :-O

The "help wizard" has support for cases where you have forgotten your ID or password, etc. But nothing for login errors in the system itself.

Googling revealed that there is a Yahoo mail for mobile link that usually works even if the rest of the login system kicks you out. I tried that at http://us.m.yahoo.com/p/login?.done=http%3A%2F%2Fus.m.yahoo.com%2Fp%2Fmail%3F



It worked!! I could access my mails!! Triple verification!!

I went back to the Yahoo mail help site. Somehow I found a link that does not require you to login, and sent feedback. (It is so well hidden, I may not find that link again :-) ).

After 1 day, I could miraculously login again. There is no response to my feedback mail, but I am still happy! :-)

Overall: Usability of the customer care section of Yahoo needs big-time improvement. Requiring folks to compulsorily login to contact Customer Care is just bad design!

The God of Tall Things: Interactive story [Link]

A very funny story - read if you are a programmer.
Link: The God of Tall Things: Interactive story

Movie Review: Kites

Movie Review: Kites

A little late to be writing this review, but who cares?


Some highlights of Kites - The Patangs:
--------------------------------------------------
1. There are places in the movie where 10-15 mins go by and nothing has really happened.

2. Mori is not beautiful. Most of our Indian film actresses are better looking than her. She has been chosen for other "qualities".

3. Hritik gets beat up/shot frequently. And you don't care.

4. You actually wish Kangana had a bigger part even if she is playing her standard "mentally disturbed person" role (Nana Patekar and Kangana don't have to act nowadays - they play themselves in all movies and get paid too).

5. The best part of the movie is when it gets over.

6. This is an "international standards" movie, but no person from any nation might like it.

7. They can save money and make many "MacroMan" ads by using sections of this movie.

Exchange: Unknown Error 0×80040600

If you get an error message from exchange that has "Unknown Error 0×80040600" in it, then you are not getting all your emails from the server. The cure for this is to

• Clear "Deleted Items"
• Press F9 to get all emails

Got this information from this link: Absoblogginlutely! » Unknown Error 0×80040600

Worst "classic" movies to see before you die (Hindi)

There are classic movies, that are praised by everyone (e.g. Gone With The Wind). And then there are the other type of "classic" movies - ones after seeing that you can't imagine why they were made in the first place.

These I call as the worst "classic" movies to see before you die.

I can proudly say that I have lasted through the
following:
--------------------------------------------------------
1. 
Gunda (Mithunda) --> Family movie - provided each family member sees it

separately! Has characters whose names you can't take in public. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunda_%28film%29
This
movie should be part of the "10 classic worst movies to see before you
die"
list. Words fail me ...

2.  Jaani Dushman - Ek Anokhi Kahani (Terminator
+ Punarjanam+ Iccha dhari
saap + ... )  --> All time entertaining movie -
you can see it at any point
in the movie and still enjoy the
madness!!

3.  Clerk (Manoj Kumar): Has scenes showing
a) Completely
out-of-shape Manoj "Bharat" Kumar and a grossly overweight
Shashi Kapoor as
college students
b) Curing heart attack with 2 battery cells - scientific
breakthrough!! -->
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JtoYmOZFQE


There
are others. But if you manage to last through all these 3, you will find any
movie good!!

The Formula

The Formula

A short story I wrote. Hope you like it.
Posting in image(s) format to avoid copying (although determined folks can still do that :-) ).

This is (c) Amit Shirodkar. All rights reserved.

You can give comments on this blog or at amitshirodkar AT yahoo DOT com

Note: Click on each image to see it full size. Then click the browser's Back button to return to the page.









This is (c) Amit Shirodkar. All rights reserved.

Some things never change ...

I have broadband from BSNL. Last week I decided to upgrade the plan. In BSNL land, that means a trip to the nearest customer service center (changing your plan online is an alien concept here).

I prepared an application with all the required information (account number, telephone number, old plan name, new plan name, etc.). Reached the counter. The lady behind the counter studied my application and said "This is good. But unfortunately this is not in the right format".
Me: What is the format?
BSNL Lady: We have a separate form for this.
Me: I didn't find this form online on the BSNL site.
BSNL Lady: Hmm (gave me a look that said "Why did you expect to find it online?"

Me: (Took the form, filled it) Here it is.
BSNL Lady: We need a copy of the last paid bill.
Me: I don't have it with me. Can you please issue me a duplicate bill from your computer so that I can attach it with the application?
BSNL Lady: Sorry, we need a xerox copy of the original bill, not a duplicate one.
Me: What if I had lost the original bill?
BSNL Lady: Hmm (gave me a look that said, "We have a separate 10-step process for that case").

I had to go back home, find my original bill, take a xerox, attach it to the application, and then re-submit. Lots of time, effort, energy wasted. Anybody worried about efficiency here?
And to think that BSNL has all of my bills on their computers!! They know that I have paid the last one! Why should paper be wasted in taking a photocopy of a bill that everyone knows is paid? Save the planet, anyone?



Often we get nostalgic about certain things in life  - mom's cooking, a particular place that we are fond of, friends, etc.
We wish that these should never change and stay exactly as they are. In my case, BSNL's behavior is NOT one of them!! :-)

Office 2007: New does not always mean improved

Note: I know that Office 2007 has been around for about 3 years now, and so this post is outdated even before its written. But the point of this is to show how even huge companies with mega $ budgets for Research and Development can turn a decent product into an awful one!!

Recently my office "forced" me to upgrade to Office 2007 from Office 2003 - a new laptop was allocated to me, and the default image has Office 2007. So I had no choice but to accept that.

Pretty soon, I started hating it.

I am basically a Windows user, and really liked Office 2003. I had kept off upgrading to Office 2007 because my previous experience with Microsoft products is that the "improved" version is always significantly worse to use than the one you currently use.

Office 2007 seems to have been redesigned from the ground up in terms of usability. What I fail to see is which users would be happy with the new design because

• Things that were simple to do previously are now extremely complicated
• You can't do certain things (at least I couldn't find out - see below)
• You have to Google often to seek solutions for ridiculously simple operations.

I will give 5 examples from Outlook (OL) itself. The rest of Office 2007 has more gems like these.


Example 1: Where is the BCC field?

In Outlook 2007, the BCC field is turned off by default. I use this field while sending non-official emails to a lot of people - I have had bad experiences in the past with people doing a "Reply All" to a thread (even if that thread has folks they don't even know). So BCC is the only option.

I hunted, hunted some more, and finally Googled.
The answer is: Open a new message, go to the Options field (in the message itself), and in "Fields" chose "Show BCC". Wow!!



Example 2: Justify text in an email? What for?

In OL 2007, you can't "justify" the text. There is left align, right align, and center align. You can't justify the text. You can do it in Word, thankfully! So if you want to send a "justified" mail, then you compose it in Word, and then paste it into Outlook. Very productive.


Example 3: I will go back to the default option every time

In OL 2007, suppose you want to insert 3 images into an email (inline embedded). OK, so then you select "Insert --> Picture". That does the job.
Then what would you do?
Click on "Picture" again, of course!
Wrong! Can't do that!
Why?
Because now the "Format" sub-tab is selected that allows you to format a picture. So you have to select "Insert" again. That is loads of fun if you have to insert many images.

There is a workaround for the above, but it is well hidden. When you select "Insert --> Picture", you can actually select multiple images. But then, why not name it "Picture(s)" or "Pictures"? Oh, and BTW, the order in which the images are inserted is "last image first" (LIFO). So if you select 1, 2, and 3 then the order in which they get inserted into the mail is 3, 2, 1. Go figure.


Example 4: I got tired of the "File" Menu

In OL 2007, open a new message. Look for the "File" menu, which has been the default for ages and ages. It's not there!! Instead you have to click on the new Office icon, and then only can you access the normal "File" menu. Why this new design? Does it give the user any advantages? Or is being "cool" the only criterion? "Cool" should always be accompanied by "useful". And in case of doubt, always choose the latter over the former.



Example 5: I will render HTML in a manner that is worse than the previous version!

This is the most incredible part of OL 2007. HTML rendering has been taken back - way, way back from what it was in OL 2003. The reason is that some people in the team, in their infinite wisdom, decided that they would take a winning HTML rendering engine from Internet Explorer and replace it with a crappy one from Word. Word is extremely bad at rendering HTML. And to actually switch the engine from IE to Word is the equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot!
There is a good thread on this already here.



Summary: New does not always mean improved. To improve something one has to think of what the customer wants, and single-mindedly execute on that plan. Just putting in features for the heck of it is not good. And replacing what was good in a previous version of the software with something that is just plain bad is worse. I hope the Office team at MS pays attention to all the feedback on the net while designing the next version. Else history will repeat itself ...

Aman Ki Asha, an Indo-Pak Peace Project

A new peace initiative between India and Pakistan by the Times Of India and Jang Group (Pakistan).

Beautiful video...

My Newfound Spirituality from Asami Asami by Pu La Deshpande

A very good translation of part of the Marathi novel "Asami Asami" by Pu La Deshpande. A translation can't match the original language's punch, but still this is a very good effort.

Link: Vantage point: My Newfound Spirituality from Asami Asami by Pu La Deshpande

Quotes from Agatha Christie novels

Quotes from Agatha Christie novels

Agatha Christie is one of my favorite authors. I can read her mystery books over and over again, and each time they are as delicious as they were the first time.

There are some famous gems - pearls of wisdom actually, hidden in her novels. I have picked a few of my favorites. I am sure there are many, many more. But this is a good start.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I do not approve of murder."
- Hercule Poirot, recurring quote, 1st seen in "Poirot's Early Cases"


"The worst is so often true."
- Miss Jane Marple, They Do It with Mirrors


"You can only really get under anybody’s skin if you are married to them."
- Miss Jane Marple, The Body in the Library

"She has made her bed and she must lie on it."
- Emily Arundell, Dumb Witness OR Poirot Loses a Client


"Understand this, I mean to arrive at the truth.
The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to seekers after it."
- Hercule Poirot, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd


"Crime is terribly revealing.
Try and vary your methods as you will, your tastes, your habits, your attitude of mind, and your soul is revealed by your actions."
- Hercule Poirot, The ABC Murders


"Every murderer is probably somebody’s old friend."
- Hercule Poirot, The Mysterious Affair at Styles


The impossible could not have happened, therefore the impossible must be possible in spite of appearances.
- Hercule Poirot, Murder on the Orient Express


"You know that in all tombs there is always a false door?"
Renisenb stared. "Yes, of course."
"Well, people are like that too. They create a false door - to deceive. If they are conscious of weakness, of inefficiency, they make an imposing door of self-assertion, of bluster, of overwhelming authority - and, after a time, they get to believe in it themselves. They think, and everybody thinks, that they are like that. But behind that door, Renisenb, is a bare rock ... And so when reality comes and touches them with the feather of truth - their true self reasserts itself."
- Death Comes as the End



Captain Hastings: [referring to marriage] You ever thought about it?
Hercule Poirot: In my experience, I know of five cases of wives being murdered by their devoted husbands.
Captain Hastings: Oh?
Hercule Poirot: And twenty-two husbands being murdered by their devoted wives. So thank you, no. Marriage, it is not for me.
- The Double Clue




Her voice broke suddenly.
Miss Marple said gently:
" I am only a stranger, but I am so very very sorry."
And suddenly, uncontrollably, Letitia Blacklock wept.

It was a piteous overmastering grief, with a kind of hopelessness about it. Miss Marple sat quite still.
Miss Blacklock sat up at last. Her face was swollen and blotched with tears.
" I'm sorry," she said. " It - it just came over me. What I've lost. She - she was the only link with the past,
you see. The only one who - who remembered. Now that she's gone I'm quite alone."
" I know what you mean," said Miss Marple.
"One is alone when the last one who remembers is gone.
I have nephews and nieces and kind friends - but there's no one who knew me as a
young girl - no one who belongs to the old days.
I've been alone for quite a long time now."

- A Murder is Announced

Who am I? Poem by Bulleh Shah (1680-1757)

One of my favorites. Was sent the link to the page below by my better half. It has a very good translation!

Have copy-pasted the entire text of the original post on arbitmax because pages have a habit of disappearing on the web :-)

Original Post: ArbitMAX!: August 2008

Copy paste -->


Original poem:

Who am I?
Bulleh Shah (1680-1757)

Na maen momin vich maseet aan
Na maen vich kufar diyan reet aan
Na maen paakaan vich paleet aan
Na maen moosa na pharaun.
Bulleh! Ki jaana maen kaun?

Na maen andar ved kitaab aan,
Na vich bhangaan na sharaab aan
Na maen rindaan masat kharaab aan
Na maen jaagan na vich saun.
Bulleh! Ki jaana maen kaun?

Na maen shaadi na ghamnaaki
Na maen vich paleeti paaki
Na maen aabi na maen khaki
Na maen aatish na maen paun
Bulleh! Ki jaana maen kaun?

Na maen arabi na lahori
Na maen hindi shehar nagauri
Na hindu na turak peshawri
Na maen rehnda vich nadaun
Bulleh! Ki jaana maen kaun?

Na maen bheth mazhab da paaya
Ne maen aadam havva jaaya
Na maen apna naam dharaaya
Na maen baitthan na vich bhaun
Bulleh! Ki jaana maen kaun?

Avval aakhir aap nu jaana
Na koi dooja hor pehchaana
Maethon hor na koi siyaana
Bulleh Shah khadda hai kaun?
Bulleh! Ki jaana maen kaun?


Translation:

I am not a believer inside the mosque
nor a pagan disciple of false rites.
I am not the pure amongst the impure
neither Moses nor the Pharaoh.
Bulleh! Who am I?

I am not in the Vedas
neither in opium nor in wine.
I am not in the drunkard's daze
neither asleep, nor awake.
Bulleh! Who am I?

I am neither in happiness nor in sorrow
neither clean, nor filthy.
I am not from water or the earth
neither fire, nor from air, is my birth.
Bulleh! Who am I?

I am not an Arab, I am not from Lahore,
neither am I from the city of Nagaur.
I am not a Hindu, or a Turk from Peshawar
nor do I stay in Nadaun.
Bulleh! Who am I?

I have never understood the point of religion,
I am not born from Adam and Eve,
I am not just the name,
Neither in stillness, nor in motion.
Bulleh! Who am I?

I am the first, I am the last
None other, have I ever known
I am the wisest of them all
Bulleh Shah - who is this standing here?
Bulleh! Who am I?

Pink Panther (2006) - I would like to buy a hamburger

Steve Martin is a riot in this movie - one of my all time favorites!!

A sample:
Ponton: He was just found dead in a training facility locker room. Shot in the head.
Clouseau: Was it fatal?
Ponton: Yes.
Clouseau: How fatal?
Ponton: Um, completely.
Clouseau: I want to talk to him now!