Best Indian blogs 2008

I came across this post that declared the winners of the Indian Weblogs Awards. Congratulations to the winners. It feels good to know that Digital Inspirations won. I have subscribed to Amit's feeds and enjoy every entry. Had I known about the competition earlier, I surely would have voted too.
There were some blogs that did not seem to stand out as well as I had expected. But the best designed Indiblogs are awesome! I am going to have to start getting inspiration from these guys. A point to note is that most of the blogs were using Wordpress as opposed to Blogger. Hmmm! Have to think about that!
Once again, congratulations to the winners and to those who didn't win, you all are still winners in my eyes to make it up there. Keep up the great work. You all are a great inspiration for us.

Jingle All The Way 10K race report

Sunday December 13th was Jingle All the Way 10K in DC downtown by the Potomac river. Chavone and Jerome were running too. We were going to drive together but the weather's been nasty last couple of days. We got up at 5:30 (after an interrupted sleep) and decided that we don't want to run. But we still wanted to go to the race nevertheless. "Atleast lets pick up the race shirts", we thought.
I guess Chavone and Jerome were not coming to an agreement if they wanted to go so we decided that we will drive separate. We dressed up and drove over to find a good parking spot. It was just drizzling a tad. So no harm in running. Picked up the bibs and shirts and got to the finish line just in time for the race to start. I didn't really stretch a lot. We were jogging from the parking spot to the start off point. So I thought that should be warm up enough.
We positioned ourselves almost at the back. The crowd was 3,700 strong! Quite a few were dressed up in Santa hats and dresses and sorts. It was a fun crowd. The temperatures were ~34F. Pretty cold. Madhura and I were together for about half mile and then I took off after that.

At the 3 mile marker, I saw the leaders heading back. This time I had my stop watch started. Hit the 3 mile marker at ~29min. Good enough. I was determined to do a negative split this time. I took off my ear muffs at about the 2 mile point. There was too much of a crowd and the roads were quite narrow. So the weaving was problematic. But who am I to complain. All throughout the race, my goal was 55:00min. Then the dastardly cramps set in at 4miles! Gosh! No amount of deep breathing helped. The pain was stabbing! So I slowed down to a walk. Madhura caught up with me. She was going strong! Great girl! But she was worried about her back which she had thrown out a couple of weeks ago. So she prodded me to go on and not worry about her. "I don't have a goal. You go for yours", she said. So I took off trying to ignore the pain. I knew by 5 miles that I was not going to make it at 55min. So I decided that I have to make it within 60 mins. My previous peeve of 61min at the "Life Without Limits 10K" race would be 'avenged'. I hit the finish line at 58min. My tag timing was 56:39. Not bad at all!

Madhura had some problems with her hands getting too cold. Nothing too serious though.
Me on the other hand - after we had breakfast with Chavone and Jerome, the lateral side of my right foot started aching like crazy. Madhura doesn't like the look of it after she did some tests on them. Well, its a wait-n-watch game. Hopefully its just a damaged tendon/ligament/muscle and not a stress fracture. Time will tell. Till then its R-I-C-E (Rest Ice Compression Elevation).
Pictures as we get them.

Post half marathon and next race

The half marathon race report is on the Running Indian blog. It was a very fulfilling experience.
Madhura registered us for another 10K. Its called Jingle All The Way and is on December 13th in Washington DC's West Potomac Park. Not for a cause, but well...
Goal: 55 mins or less. Have to work on my stride and negative splits.

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(For this countdown timer visit: http://www.oneplusyou.com/bb/countdown )

Half marathon!

After the 10miler this past Sunday, I am feeling pretty confident of long runs now. A newly rejuvenated me finally mustered up enough nerve to ask Madhura to register me for a half marathon.

So she does! Its to be in DC. November 8th. The Gynecologic Cancer Foundation Race to End Women's Cancer. This is the first race they are organizing...and the first I am running! Suits both parties.

So here goes...

More updates as they are available...

Countdown Clocks, Funny Countdowns at WishAFriend.com

Ubuntu

The last few days and weekends have found me busy trying to set up and getting Ubuntu running on my new machine. Am pretty excited about getting the new laptop. Not so much for the new machine, but more so because I really wanted to try my hand at Linux. It always scared and perplexed me seeing and hearing people talk about linux this and linux that. So I found Ubuntu is an open source Linux based OS. I had given it a shot on Madhura's lappy earlier in the year but it just didn't fly then. The internet was off and I didn't have the patience to work on fixing it.
Anyways, now that I have my new playground, I installed Ubuntu 9.04, or Jaunty Jackalope, as that version is called. Now when I state 'installed', it really wasn't as simple as that. Spent a whole weekend reading up on the requirements and preping up. Created a backup of the Vista from the 'recovery drive' (D:) that HP had already created. Talked to a few people on how and what needs to be done. Not that it was much help. But I couldn't keep researching forever. Had to get my feet wet. 
So took the plunge and installed Ubuntu. That was on Sept 25th. Friday when I was my myself at home. First run, the installation failed! Disk error! I just wiped the disk clean and re-ran it. Success! 

Initial problems:

1. No sound, no video
2. Not able to see all my windows folders (music, videos, photos)
3. Pidgin (Ubuntu's IM client) not picking up my gtalk contacts
4. A slew of other not-so-important thingies (or so I think)

I was almost on the verge of giving up again. Hemant prodded me on. Installed Kubuntu too! I didn't like that either. So switched back to Ubuntu. 

Read up on mounting drives, and tweaked the system based on the forums advice and tips.

Yesterday! Finally I decide...I like it! It doesn't sound or look so overwhelming now. I should say its been fun so far.  And come to think of it, the solutions to all the above mentioned problems were so simple! Doesn't that always happen? 

Will post more info and tips as I go along on Ubuntu how-tos.

Meanwhile, for those who are reading this, give it a shot. I promise it will be a good ride. Its nice to have 'control'. Somehow Ubuntu makes me feel that ways. And I love it.  :-)

All you need is approx 5-10GB space on your drive. 512MB RAM is more than enough. If nothing else, try the LiveCD option. It is a great way to just see the system without installing it. Amazing concept! And ALL that great stuff on there is free. As they say, "free as in free speech, not free beer". Very true. But still, it doesn't cost anything to install it. I take that back. No dollars. But your time - yes. So it is not 'free', if you know what I mean. You will not lose your good ol' Windows. If you find it too difficult keeping up with Ubuntu, fret not. Dual boot will get you back to Windows and life will be as it was earlier. Go ahead, give it a shot. Atleast then, you could have said, "I tried Ubuntu." :-)

It has come a long way from what people construe Linux as. The user interface is very very appealing. And its safe. No more viruses, malware, spyware. "What about my documents/photos/music that I played on Windows?", there are a slew of open source applications that come preinstalled with Ubuntu. OpenOffice for MS Office, Rhythmbox for your music and videos, GIMP for your photos. All these applications have come a long way from the days gone by when most of them were really messed up. And best of all, I believe, your computer does not 'slow down' as time passes. That, in my case, time will tell.

There are thousands of developers out there tuning and making Ubuntu the way it is now. Some day, I hope to contribute as well.

Post me any questions you have and I will surely try my best to answer them. I am still a newbie. But try, I shall.

Mint.com

I was at Malli's and was reminded of coming up with the expense report for our Shenandoah trip. And I was like...ok..alright...I will get to it when I can...

That's when Malli suggested this awesome site: Mint

I wonder how and why I did not come across such a wonderful and helpful site. Did I forget to add FREE?

I saw so many other tools/sites/programs charging exorbitant fees for far less and complex stuff than Mint.com.

It takes literally minutes to set up. Just provide it with your login and passwords to your accounts. It is safe, don't you worry. It does not ask for your names, your SSN, or your personally identifiable info and no money can be transferred in or out. Its just a 'read only' reporting tool.

You can set it to retrieve your bank balances, credit card balances, loans, real estate, car(s) and investment accounts. Further settings can include the APRs, interest rates, monthly fees, and email alerts.

So, I set up my accounts and it retrieves my balances and transaction activity very accurately and charts them out beautifully in charts and reports.

(Click on the image to get a better view)

As I browsed about in the site, it did not stop surprising me with the great stuff it has to offer. Suggestions to save, performance of my investments vs the DOW, suggestions to roll over previous IRAs, my spending trends, categories of my expenses. You can set up your budgets for different expenses and this thing tells you if you are on track, over budget or if you need to slow down! It suggests credit cards, banks, CDs, brokerage firms and IRA rollover suggestions!

So much so that, depending on how you set up your alerts, it can send you emails/sms' to alert you that a particular credit card bill is due. Imagine that!

A couple more screenshots might help you understand why I LOVE this site: (click on the pics to enlarge and view them better)

Now this is something, I really think everyone should know. Helps with consolidating all your accounts and tells you if you are screwing up...or getting screwed. A nice way to manage your money. IMHO.

Thanks Malli!

Running log and journal

So I decided last week that I am going to keep a journal of my runs. From the looks of it, this might be a little more than just a passing whim. So I started this new blog: Running Indian. Lucky I found that name not taken (not too many indians running out there eh?). 
Also found this good site to map my run: MapMyRun. Cool site. You can keep a record of your workouts there and pull out maps to embed in your blogs. Have embedded this first map...just for kicks.

I hope the journal serves its purpose of keeping me focussed. Let's see how it works out.

Craigslist scam

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Antique Tables Made Daily?!

Huh? Am I missing something here or is this a valid oxymoron? Found this on our way back from Shenandoah.

Goals?

After I put my status up on FB announcing my 10K achievement, Swapna asked a very simple but relevant question: "What are you training for?" A casual question, no doubt. But it got me thinking. Have I set a goal for myself? Running goals? Short-term goals? Long-term goals? Anything at all?

I used to do that. Remember? I guess I did reach most of them, if not all. And then complacency set in. Or fear of the uncertain, hence the future, hence fear of setting goals. Deep?
That was a good awakening call. 

The first 10K!

Yay!!!! I did it! My first official run! The 10K in Lorton, VA on September 12 2009! The feeling is like none other!
The day was perfect. We reached in time to collect our packets and warm up. I started the race really really slow. I was worried about my shin splints. I had the shin and calf sleeve on and was in my old shoes. (Am a little skeptical of the new Nikes). I guess the combination of the sleeve, old shoes, proper warm up and the ultrasound I'd done last week helped. Minimal splint pain...or rather tolerable splints I should say. The terrain was pretty hilly, I should say (or 'hillier' than I practised). But somewhere midway, I thought, it's okay...just let go and stop. But for some reason I didn't. It was nothing to do with 'saving face' or determination or anything of the kind. I just went on I guess. Good for me!
I badly wanted to finish the race within the hour. Even during the practice runs, it never occurred to me to go beyond 60mins. But I finished in 61:23. So a little disappointing, but very satisfying I should say. Hey! You got to see where I come from. A little शाबाशी certainly is due. :)
Madhura and I finished at exactly the same time.
And this thing IS addictive. I cannot wait for the next one. Where? When? Did not register as yet.
Just for posterity, here's a snapshot of the results:

A nice sumptuous breakfast followed by good sleep and a movie in the evening with wife and friends. Nice!

Running

I have been running for the past 10 weeks now. Madhura got me this great book: "The Beginning Runners Handbook - The Proven 13-Week Walk/Run Program".
It has motivated me enough to stick to its plan for the past 10 weeks! Can you believe that! I am following it every bit. So much so that I have bought a pair of dedicated running shoes!
Frank is the only marathon and ultra-marathon and 100 miler I know of. I always thought marathon runners were some kind of legendary figures. You know...the ones you see on TV and thats that. He's guided Madhura to stick to her plan and she's run a 5K and a 10K in Michigan. But then, well, she doesn't need much prodding to stick to plans anyways. Unlike me!
One fine evening Madhura kicked my butt on one of her casual run days. I found I just could not run. All those months (or has it been years) of inactivity, puffing and drinking did no good to my lazy muscles. So I am like..."Let's try this. I am going to give up anyways. Since I am home, it will at least tire me enough to help me sleep. Once I land a project and am away, its all going to fizzle away."
But I am holding on! For 10 weeks! Inspite of the move and all the hullaballoo. 3 more weeks to go and I should be able to run a 10K (6.2 miles). Groovy! Me talking of running 'miles'. I sincerely never believed I could run more than 1.5 miles. How did I arrive at that number? That was how much I could do after huffing and puffing for 20 minutes and on the verge of collapsing on that darned treadmill! But that program's put me here where I can now run 5 miles for sure! Kudos Amit! 
Problems so far? Let me put that up in another post. What say?
I found this cool iPhone app and site to log your runs too. That too in some other post.
Madhura's egged me all the way, so far. She's registered us to run for this event on Sept 12th - South Fairfax Chamber of Life Without Limits 10K run. And I am nervous as hell. Just have to stick to the training plan and I think I should be able to get to the finish line. Conscious.

Bollywood songs on your iPhone

We all know that there are not many iPhone apps out there (actually, I didn't find even one) that plays Bollywood songs. Even Pandora does a pathetic job. Thats sad! Considering such a growing population of desis using the iPhone. Did I just give away a good App idea to a developer? :-)

But then, we, as always are resourceful, aren't we?

Check out m.dhingana.com. You gotta go through the Safari browser.

Lo and behold! It's a beautiful and easy interface right there.

What I like? You can minimize Safari and do other stuff. The songs play in the back ground. Except, of course, if you were to access the internet, and the songs stop.

Eliminating the blind spot

Found a great way to eliminate the blind spot while driving.
Simple and easy: Sit as you would normally drive and adjust the rear view mirror the same way you would usually do - centralized view of the rear window. Now, move your head between the driver and the passenger seats (yes, lean over) and adjust the passenger side rear view so that you just see the edge of the rear bumper in the mirror. Next, come back to your normal driving stance, and move your head one head length to your left (don't have to 'lean' as much) and then adjust the driver side rear view mirror so that you just see the driver side rear bumper. Done!
It takes a little time getting used to the new rear view in your side mirrors. A couple of hours of driving, at most, I would guess. But, believe me, it's much better than craning your neck every time you want to change lanes.
Let me know if this works for you. Or if there's any tuning required.

Mail2blogger

Blogger has this great feature where you could post to your blog
directly from your phone. Here's a sample...
Go to Settings > Email and format your Mail2Blogger email ID there.
Select if you would like the blog to post immediately or would like it
to sit in your dashboard to review and post later. Next time you want
to blog on-the-go just send an email to that address. The email will
be your posting and the email's subject the title of your post. Nice!

Sent from my iPhone

Outlook voting and tracking

Sharon showed me this great functionality in Outlook: Voting and tracking.

It's a pretty cool feature. Say you want to get an opinion from a bunch of people regarding, say, "Do you want to go out for lunch today?". Conventionally, you would send out an email to all these guys and try keeping track of who voted what. Well, use the voting and tracking feature and things would be easy.

Compose a new message just as you would normally do. Use the 'Options' button to open up the 'Message Options' and check 'Use voting button'. Scroll down the list to select their options or enter any options you want making sure each option is separated by a semi-colon.

Compose your message as you would normally do and send it. The recipients receive the email with an option to vote. She votes and can send the message back with editions. You get the reply with her vote.

To keep a track of the votes, go to your sent message and hit the tracking tab. Voila! Your recipients' votes are all displayed in a nice form out there.

Simple and very effective.

Swoopo.com

Lisa mentioned about this auction site...Swoopo.com.

After going through it for a while, I must say it is quite a brilliant idea. I have not registered and bought anything there as yet. But I do see myself going for it one of these days.

The concept is brilliant: The auction starts off at $0.00. I have seen 50" plasma tvs go for something like $150! Bids increment at 6c or 12c or 24c! And if you put in your bid in the last 20 secs, the timer jumps up another 20secs. So technically, there is no set end time for the auction. Now here is the catch. Every bid you make, costs you 60c! Aha! So in actuality, if the winning bid was say $120 with a 12c increment, there have been 1200/12=1000 bids made. So, the site actually roped in (1000 x 0.60 = $600). S&H separate. So you see! What a terrific concept! Would I try it? Yes! Sure...for checking it out.

More updates when I try it out.

A new beginning

A lot's been happening for the past few months. My honorable intentions of maitaining a running commentary have proven, if nothing else, a broken promise. Well, life happens, I guess.

So without further ado, let me try and recoup.

We got out of Michigan on the 24th of July 2009. It's been 5 years

that I have been in and around Auburn Hills, MI. Thats where I landed my first job, made a lot of good friends, and Madhura too! It was a bitter sweet moment - leaving Michigan. And thats the longest I have lived in one city in my life! Well, I guess change is good.

Our plans to move to San Diego were washed away after I landed a project with the State of Delaware. Almost overnight we did a 180degree turn and decided to move to Virginia. We cancelled our tickets and ALL those detailed plans to move to SD and booked a Penske truck to move to Virginia.

I drove to Nitin Kalra's place (in Gainesville, VA) on 18th July and then to Delaware. Found a nice place. The boss here and other developer folks are gre

at!

Flew back the next weekend to load up the truck. Gautam, Nate, Taylor and Girish helped us. Slept the last night at Gautam's place and left early in the morning. It took me 11 hours to get to Nitin's place with Maggy a total wreck. She wouldn't eat we

ll for the next 2-3 days and started her puking again. And then the new place, new people...sure was quite difficult for her. Anyways, she managed to pull through.

I had to leave Madhura and Maggy at Nitin's place and drive back to Delaware. Madhura did a terrific job the next couple of weeks balancing the job hunt and apartment search and being a good guest and a good mom to Maggy. There were some stressful moments there. But all in all, she landed a good job with IRG. And we landed up in Fairfax, VA. :-)

Thats as of today.

Last two weekends have been busy getting the apartment set up. Its quite a lot of fun I should say. Planning with Madhura. Playing with Maggy. Beautiful place.

All in all, so far, we are pretty happy with things inspite of the haphazard way they have been happening. :-)