Ghosts of the Past

Ever heard of the expression 'the past coming back to haunt you' ? Well, that is one way of describing what happened.

To start the story, we need to rewind back about two months. 11 November 2011. 11 11 11. Digital System Design exam. Should've smelled a rat when it was postponed from the 1st to this date, but we went ahead and wrote the damn thing. When some of us skimmed over the paper, we were shocked. Isn't this just like the 2009 paper? One or two questions being the same, that's normal, when the part B seems like the thing's been xeroxed, that is a whole new ball game. I for one checked the paper's year personally. But, what the hell, good for us, and we wrote the thing and got out.

Fast forward two months, and we have just written the exam again. Apparently the things we felt were universal, and some one had complained, the paper was cancelled, and we just had a retest.

How was it? Good. I'd say better than the last one. Thank you my King. 

When will we get modern???

Today made one thing clear to me, and that thing is how archaic my college really is. It doesn't matter if it is over 75 years old, I can live with that. But sometimes some things leave me amused, other things get on my nerves.


Ever heard of a fanfold paper? No? Can't really blame you. Maybe your parents have. Remember that continuous sheet of paper perforated at regular intervals, and has holes in the sides? Ring a bell???


The fanfold paper was used exclusively for taking printouts from a dot matrix printer. And when the dot matrix went out of scope i.e. became extinct, the fanfold paper too began crashing. 
Here's an extract from wikipedia...


" Continuous form paper began to disappear from the consumer market in the 1990s as desktop publishing, and WYSIWYG document generation became more popular and widespread. Consumers were willing to pay more to get a laser printer or inkjet printer that could produce near-typeset-quality documents. These printers accept standard size cut sheets (letter, legal or A4) of paper and don't require continuous form paper. Continuous form paper continues to be used in specialty commercial and industrial markets and, as of 2011, is still available from large office suppliers such asOfficeMax. "


They forgot one...our college. It is one place where thay still use dot matrix printers and fanfold papers. And we were told to buy that for an assignment. We asked in 4 shops including our store, and the answer was all negative.
The question is...when will we update? The second we shake off the cobwebs, let go of outdated and worn out traditions , we will begin to get somewhere...But I don't see that coming any time soon...

It's my Birthday Today!!!

Woo Woo Woo!

5th January. You know what that means to me? It is a day which has always been a day of joy and happiness, regardless of how the day goes. And if you look back, you will see that I had some preconcieved notions of how 2012 was going to be for me and I was whining about how things were not going right, and maybe, you see my post start with a newfound hope. That is right. I am now feeding off of hope. For every valley, there is a mountaintop...an...uh oh...maybe I'd best leave my philosophy lesson for later....
Coming back to my birthday...
I did not take toffees to my class or anything of the sort, because frankly, I  don't see the point of it.
 I just bought a chocolate shake each for my inner circle of friends. That was it.
And I'd like to thank everyone who has wished me happy birthday!!!!

Welcome to the New Year!!!

It is here. Finally. The year that has been playing on everyone's tongues ever since the Mayan calender was uncovered. The year that means good for some and bad for the others and 'depends on how you make it' for the literati.
But I am not here to have a plain old discussion about what is right and what is wrong.
I am here to speak my mind.
And I don't think 2012 is a good year for me.
Why, you ask. Well, I can't say for sure, anyway you would simply laugh at me. It has been 3 days into the New Year, and to be frank, not a day has passed without some sort of a mishap. These may not be a big deal to you, but couple that with the gut feeling that I have and you get  a pretty strong evidence that 2012 is not my year.
Bogus. This kid is nuts.
That is what you thought right now, didn't you???
Well, hear me out.
What do you do when something doesn't go your way? You make it go your way. It is as simple as that. And that is what I will do. I will work my head off to make everything go my way. The time is long past when you can simply whine about how destiny has struck a raw deal with you, how you are the victim for ever and always, and how unlucky you actually are.
I will share a piece of wisdom with you.
Luck is for Losers.
Luck is just an institution that the lazy people invented to explain off their failures. It does not exist. Through hard work and dedication, you can create you own good luck.
There is one other thing I can say, and that is about doubt. Doubt ruins everything. Take a foundation no matter how strong, sprinkle generously with doubt and watch it crumble. But that is easier said than done, right.
I am trying to make a change. I don't know how much I can do. I don't know how long it will last. But I have to try.

The End of 2011...

In just a couple of hours we bid farewell to 2011. And we usher in the new year, we usher in the most hotly debated year in all of history, we set foot into the year everyone has been talking about, waiting for, to actually see if 2012 actually holds any of what is told.
You see, the end of the world has been a topic of interest for virtually immemorial. We simply like to predict the end of the world, right? Doesn't matter if we miss a couple of times, we just need to say it out loud. Someone, somewhere told that an ancient calender ends in 2012, so behold we have entered the end of the world. And to add fuel to fire, we get the movie 2012. The last time I checked, it was a film. It was fiction.
Man, it would have been interesting if this was the first time around. But no, look back to 2000, remember Y2K??? Many said that was the end.
And then, New Age belief points to a new aspect. Popularised through Dan Brown's best seller The Lost Symbol, December 21, 2012 is the day a profound enlightenment engulfs earth. They took the phrase "The End of the World" and appended a phrase to it.
"The End of the World as you Know It".
Much more appealing to me in any way.
Well whatever happens...
                                               HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Holidays...

I am back home at long last...and it is time for the holidays. Well, half of that is already done, but no problem.

First up, Christmas...
December is usually a month which brings happiness in its wake. But this time, I didn't feel any of it. It was partly due to the 13 12 11 mishap on my part and due to the extremely rushed state of affairs. But anyway, I reached home on 24th, and my cousins were already there. Well, both of them have exams at the start of next year, so they are spending most of their times behind books...so that made up my holidays...
Next up....


On Christmas day, we went for Don 2. the much awaited return of the King was a crowd-puller all right, but there was just too much style and little substance in all of that. And when SRK ripped off his Hrithik mask, that was just a wee bit too much. And the dialogue "Agar tumhe kuch ho jata to???" coming from the world's biggest criminal...really?Really?
that being said, that's all that has happened till now...







And I just want to say this...
2012 is coming,
And it will be the end of the world as you know it...

An Epitaph of Sorts...

13 12 11...A mathematical progression of death. EC lab is one of those places where it is pure hell if you don't know the theory. And if you do???
It is still pure, unadulterated hell.
And 6 months of agonizing torture came to a head today as I set foot into the demonic structure. And I stretched my hand out to draw out my question... hoping for the luck of the draw to aid me as it has done on countless occasions. I whipped my hand out, and opened the booklet to the first page.
And my breath got stuck in my throat.
This requires me to draw the CB characteristics.
And that isn't even in the syllabus.
Oh, I just got got. I just got screwed.
I drew the circuit from my distant memory, and proceeded to set up the circuit.
And that is when I just blew my cool.
I have got quite a lot of problems to be dealing with without the multimeters quitting their jobs.
By 2 and a half hours, I was nearly in tears. I wanted to rip, tear everything I saw. I was that damn angry.
But then, God lent a hand.
One of the last multimeters which was not working till that instant sprang up to life for no apparent reason. And I was saved. I got a couple of readings, and drew the graph. I overshot the expected value, but still, I think I will scrape through.
A bitter-sweet day to be frank.
It's over.
Thank you my King for Saving Me.