While in college, I used to dream of writing for the largest selling technology publication in India of that time. Therefore, when I got an offer from them, I was overjoyed at getting this honor. From the moment I got off at Mumbai’s Borivali station, I was eager to get started, determined to make a mark for myself, and show to colleagues what this 22-year old was capable of! I was sure of finishing my assignments well within the deadlines. However, during the first few days at CHIP, something happened; something that could have ended my dream of a career in technical writing, and something that I rate as the most embarrassing moment of my life.
Nokia E71: The iPhone Killer
To be honest, I had every mood to buy the Apple iPhone 3G when it launched in India, but the price of Rs.31,000 for the 8GB and Rs.36,000 for the 16GB version was a definite put off. Especially when you compare it to the price of Rs.8,500 ($199) if purchased in the US. But I needed more reasons to heal my now bruised ambition of not being able to buy an iPhone. Googled it and came up with aplenty ; on an iPhone, transferring contacts from the phone to the SIM card and selecting multiple contacts isn’t possible, neither is can one forward or copy-paste text are also non-existent in the iPhone.
No longer was I nursing a bruised ambition. On the contrary, I was rather proud of myself for not having spent hard earned money on the iPhone.
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CNN-IBN Gets It Wrong
Do you have any clue why an American citizen Keith Heywod would use “alarbi_gujarat@yahoo.com” as his e-mail address? Neither do I! But our friends at CNN-IBN led by Rajdeep Sardesai seem to agree that alarbi_gujarat@yahoo.com is indeed Heywod’s e-mail address which was hacked into and used to send e-mails giving advance warning of the Ahmedabad serial blasts.
Only if CNN-IBN had bothered to check the facts before blurting out this ugly concoction, they would have known that in fact, it was Heywod’s IP address that was spoofed and not his e-mail address. Watch the video from IBNLive.com and see for yourself:
Update Aug 26, 2008: The video has either been removed from the website, or the permalink has been changed. Guess you’ll have to trust me on this one!
Though the ultimate premise of this story was to warn viewers to safeguard themselves while on the Internet, the reasons for doing so was totally incorrect. This story makes us believe that the terrorists hacked Heywod’s e-mail address and sent e-mails illegally. In reality, the American presently staying in Navi Mumbai told the police that either his computer was hacked into or someone used his wireless connection to illegally send an e-mail via his network. The IP address is what helped the police raid the American’s house within hours of the serial blasts.
Yes, an e-mail address can be hacked, people have their identities stolen all the time, but in this case this isn’t what really happened. Here’s hoping that CNN-IBN will check and recheck their facts before airing such news reports.
Happy Father’s Day Papa
Silly me! Yes that’s what I’m telling myself right now! This past week I kept reminding myself that today (Sunday, June 15th 2008) is Father’s Day, and that I must wish Papa first thing this morning. But come Sunday and I seemed to have lost any recollection of the occasion. Its only now when I called Papa that he only reminded me that today’s Father’s Day.
No excuses to give so time to end the post! Good news is that Papa’s coming to Hyderabad on June 24th so I’ll get plenty of opportunities to make amends.
Silly me!
Caught the Eye
Every rose has a thorn! While this holds true, the inverse cannot be disputed either. My last week’s accident came as a brutal and unwanted surprise not only to me, but to my family as well. Travel plans were made in a hurry, and schedules are in place to ascertain who visits us when during my bed sojourn.
Anyway, let’s get back to the thorn, my accident. Though the injuries aren’t very severe, they can’t be ignored either. Most of my day is spent in bed, and trips to the bathroom can be quite painful. A proper bath is what I yearn for but scrub baths are all I have to make do with.
Before the accident, Tina and I had initiated plans to buy our first car, the Hyundai i10, and the loan approval couldn’t have come at a worser time. On May 26th, I received a call that the loan was approved, and that I would have to travel to the bank to complete the formalities. Not a good situation at all considering the state I’m in. Thus began the two-day long process to get the bank to send the papers over to my house so that I may sign them. But no, they didn’t agree as their policies didn’t allow so. Finally it was a lie from the car dealers that made me sideline all personal pain and step out of the house. The staffer told that the loan validity was only 3 days, and that I’d have to reapply if I did not avail my existing approval within this period.
May 28th 3 PM, was when Tina, I and my wonderful in-laws set out in a taxi to the SBI zonal office in Secunderabad. While I and mom-in-law sat in the taxi, Tina and dad-in-law met the officials to find out if they could come down from their heavenly abodes (the bank was on the second floor) and take my signatures. Fortunately for us, they readily agreed. Two hours and fifty signatures later, with a draft for Rs. 3,60,000 in hand we headed to the dealer. In another hour or so, I finally got to sit it in my first car and after a short visit to the temple I returned home at around 9PM.
Yes, this six-hour stay away from he comfort of my bed was very painful for me, but in the end it was worth it. Given a chance I’d do it again without a wink of the eye.
Now as the car’s parked right below our balcony, I just can’t wait to hop in. For now though, I’ll have to make do with the passenger seat as I can’t drive for nuts) and allow Tina to take me on for the most pleasurable ride of my life.
Stay tuned to learn how I fair behind the wheel!