d lang of d kool ppl???

Whats up with the way people write these days?

"hw r u ppl doin? its gettin more n more common 2 c ppl write lyk dis. dis started wid d instant mssngr long time back but now ppl use if all over the place. i get emails, msgs n d facebook status/comments are also full of dis. i m nt sure if ppl who use this lang actually remember ne spellings and if dey r still capable of writing using "actual" words. whts ur opinion on this? do u find it kool?"

I am not sure if I should call this "lingo" wrong or bad, but personally I can't stand it! I can see how using abbreviations or short-forms (you -> u, are -> r) can be useful during chatting in terms of saving time and effort, but this usage is getting worse with every keystroke and, I think, an effort should be made to keep it under control. There are many more instances of erroneous usage introduced because of this type of pseudo-English. I often find people using "your" or "ur" for "you are".

This issue has been discussed on the internet a few times. Here are some examples (from www.reddit.com): Link1 Link2

i dunno if ur gonna strt hatin me 4 dis, but i wud lyk 2 reqst u 2 use dis "style" 4 communicating wid ppl who u no (know) r gonna lyk it.

Tennis with Roger and Rafa

I just finished watching one of the greatest tennis matches ever - Roger Federer Vs Rafael Nadal, Wimbledon 2008 Final. What an amazing match! I can watch this again, and again, and again, and again, and again.... and get overwhelmed by it every time. The Wimbledon final the year before was no worse than this match, but being a Nadal fan, 2008 was special. Here, feast on the highlights of the 2008 final.

When I watch these matches, all I wish is to be there in the stadium next time something like this happens.

Recently I was in Cincinnati to watch the semi-finals and the final of Cincinnati Masters 2009. In the first semi-final Roger Federer crushed Andy Murray and I think towards the end Andy Murray just wanted to leave the court and go home. Who finishes the match with a double fault? Next final was disappointing match (for Rafa fans) with Djockovic in prime form and Nadal struggling to get back on the top of his game. My hopes to watch a Federer vs Rafa final were crushed by the Serbian who scored a comfortable win over Rafa. Another reason to not like the Serbian tennis star.

The final wasn't bad. Federer was in great touch and when that statement is true, not too many people (read "nobody but Rafa") can do much about it. Federer won yet again. Before he walked out of the court, I made a valiant attempt to get his autograph, though in vain.

The doubles matches were great to watch too, more so because people don't seem to be that interested in those matches and leave the most expensive front rows open for fans like us. It really makes a difference to watch the match from that close and once I have a decent amount of money in my bank account, I am definitely going to get those tickets.

It was more than amazing to be there and watch these people play live. Even more fun because I was there with Gargi and Dushyant. I am plannig to be at the BNP Paribas open (India Wells Tennis Masters) in Palm Springs, which is around an hour long drive from my home. I hope this time I get to see an in form Rafa and in form Federer playing the final.

Now, I have witnessed three Gods. Sachin Tendulkar in B'lore during a test match against Australia and then Federer and Rafa in Cincinnati. I missed watching Messi play when FC Barca was here in LA as I was in Illinois for the summer. I guess I'll have to go to Spain to increase my God count to four.

The best sunset video ever!

Here is the best sunset video ever made. Sun goes down into the Pacific ocean and on its way down, it painted the sky with wonderful colors. Photographs alone can never capture the whole thing and so we decided to make the video (that Suchit thought was a stupid idea). We, in this video not only capture the beautiful sunset, but did that with our lives at risk. There was a huge bird over the beach (can be seen in the video) that may have killed us at any moment. But we stood there and captured the complete sunset, in spite of that dangerous bird looking for prey. I am really happy that we are still alive and have this video too. I would like to thank Suchit (even though he didn't appreciate the idea of making this video, he still stood there with us) and Gargi for supporting me in the making of the this video and also for some excellent comments on the various scientific phenomena happening around.

I think the audio in the video is better than the video in the video (whatever that means)!

Enjoy!

Hiking in Riverside

I am into something new - hiking! It is scary at times (partially because I am a "little" scared of heights), but at the end of each hiking trip it feels good.

We have formed a small hiking group (all CS grads) here and we go hiking every Friday morning. Captain Steeb (Steven Cole) always finds the tougher trails to go through. Casey (Filipina Balla), Dino, Edward and Denise run all around the mountains and go down steep trails. The only sensible people in the group, I and Nathan (Nate Dogg), walk carefully, prefer walking on the roads, don't like steep trails too much (but are forced to take them because everybody goes that way), prefer driving around with lot of food and drinks. :D

First week we just climbed on top of a mountain and stood there for a while with a nice view around. The week after we went to the famous "C" (just like HOLLYWOOD, we have a huge C on a mountain here) and it was awesome. Watching the C, up there on the mountain, everyday from the campus, and then actually climbing the mountain to be at that place! Here is a pic of me and Nate at the center of the C.



Here is how it looks from up there



And then we crossed a train that had stopped on the way :)



I must mention here that we took these pictures using an iPhone and so they are even more important :D

This week we went to Mt. Rubidoux and the way down (Capt. Steeb's Steep Path) was the scariest till now. I'll add pics from this trip once I have them from Casey, Nate and Steve.

Hail Capt. Steeb!

Back to school

I am back, in school, and its fun.

Last time I was in school (at Biochemical and Bioengineering Department at IIT Delhi), I was really busy. I had a lot of sports to play and watch on TV, talk to friends for hours, downloading and listening to music, downloading and watching movies, watching TV continuously for hours waiting for something interesting to come up, carom, TT, Sasi, KLS, Nescafe, paraatha wala at flyover, plotting and enacting ingenious pranks, giving teachers a tough time in the class (if I was ever there) and occasionally writing exams (three times each semester). That was too much to handle and so it is obvious I couldn't concentrate very well on my studies. I never wanted to learn too much of bio anyways!

Now when I am back, this time in the department of computer science, it is a lot different. I find the courses interesting, look forward to finish assignments and projects and study on my own at times :D. Its good! And then I get to play a lot of sports (that I missed during the years I was working). I still download and listen to music and watch movies. Its fun!

I miss some friends here and all the fun we used to have at 501 Nethravathi and at 111, Brigade Court.