They won't leave me alone.

I'm back. If you're wondering where I've been, you obviously haven't been reading College Life. Well, I've been tagged again, before I could get a decent number of posts up after the previous one. Ah, well. If you feel miserable after reading it, remember that JJ was the cause for this. Not that I don't like making people feel miserable... Let's not go there now.

You get one wish of anything, what would you ask for?
An intelligent person would wish for more wishes. His more intelligent friend would wish for the end of the world. I'd wish for them to stop having conversations in my head.

Wish for 6 more wishes.
1. For world peace. Just to see the guy who's gonna make these wishes come true suffer in trying to do so.
2. For cleaner toilets, every single one of them in existence. For the same reason as above.
3. For every superficial Green Day fan to hear the albums they released before 'American Idiot' and realise that they're just recycling their old songs. Just like Nickelback does.
4. For more people to read this.
5. For Pandora to offer free downloads.
6. A lifetime supply of Pepsi.

What animal would you be?
I declare this question redundant as I'm already an animal. However, if I were to be ANOTHER animal, I'd be Manimal.

Something you want to do in your life:
Continue being such a lazy piece of shit, as opposed to JJ.

One song you could listen to over and over again:
Thick As A Brick by Jethro Tull. Even though it's nearly 45 minutes long.

Coke or Pepsi?
Unless you're talking about Coke as in Cocaine, which I'm sure you're not, I'd have to say Pepsi.

Something you currently desire:
A visit to the restroom.

One good deed you'’ve done lately:
If "lately" means "sometime in your life", I actually gave a beggar some cash. And then I went on to write an article for my school magazine about how begging is turning into a profession and we shouldn't encourage beggars by giving them cash. This was way back in the 90's.

A funny moment in your life:
I saw Keanu Reeves crying, on some TV show. I thought that was funny, in an odd sort of way, considering that the guy never shows any kind of expression while acting.

Now I ought to tag other people, who are supposed to answer the above questions, so as to let the madness continue. And the tagged ones are:
1. Hobbes
2. Rads
3. Sagaro
4. Tsunami, if he ever gets back

If you're one of the unlucky ones who've been tagged, I'm going to be kind and let you decide whether you want to play the game or ignore it completely. Altruism isn't usually something I dabble in, so consider yourself lucky.

Oh, and seasons greetings to all.

The once in a millenium comic series.

Yes, I did draw that. With a mouse. A mechanical mouse, not optical or animal. I was bored. And depressed. No, I'm not going to become a comic artist anytime soon, so you needn't worry about any rotten tomatoes coming my way. And yes, I did try to make that second robot look like Marvin from the Hitch Hiker's movie. Got the head a bit small, I think.

Maturity?

It is my belief that even the most mature of people need random bouts of immaturity to remain sane in this insane world. Thus, the following sentence can be disregarded: I WANT OUT OF THIS GODDAMN MESS CALLED LIFE!!!

It is also my belief, contradictory as it may seem, that maturity is a far flung illusion created by what is known as society today. Today's society is bunk.

But then I lost that second belief when I heard about a certain college mate of mine who bit the fingers of another over a Mathematical problem.

UPDATE: This new design is the result of a sudden urge for simplicity.

The end of the world. And it's not the Vogons this time.

Remember all that jazz about global warming? It's back. And in a big way. Apparently, there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today than at any point during the, ahem, last 650,000 years.

And, another study says that the oceans will rise nearly half a metre by the end of the century, forcing coastlines back by hundreds of metres.

Finally, skeptics are starting to believe that it's actually possible for ice caps to melt, sea levels to rise and drown islands and cities on coasts thanks to the increasing temperatures caused by the carbon dioxide. The idiots took so long to get convinced. Two different studies, one about the carbon dioxide and one about the rising sea levels, changed their minds.

Dear Apple of my eye iPod,

You should've stuck to Macs.

I can't stay dead, can I?

Here I am, back already. Considering that I'm still at home and I'm not exactly studying, I decided there's no point in not blogging. Besides, I've been tagged by Tsunami (he had that nick long before last year's tsunami). So, in lieu of a post, here's the 7 things meme... Don't fret.

7 Things I plan to do:
1. Kill myself
2. Drink every kind of Pepsi there is before killing myself
3. Make George Lucas and Lucas Arts re-hire Ron Gilbert for the fifth Monkey Island game
4. Convince people that I really am from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse
5. Laugh at the devil when I meet him, if the devil exists
6. Give Michael Jordan his jersey back
7. Answer those extremely frequent phone calls from the local mental institution

7 Things I can do:
1. Make you wish you were never born
2. Make you wish I was never born
3. Stare at a wall for hours
4. Play Max Payne for 18 continuous hours
5. Be very, very quiet even if I don't hunt wabbits.
6. Burp till you go mad
7. Come up with an insanely complicated joke that will cause 1 and 2

7 Things I can't do:
1. Convince people that there's nothing I can't do
2. Drink Coca-Cola and feel happy about it
3. Sing underwater
4. Find a place to hide when I need one
5. Dance underwater
6. Blog underwater
7. Make you think I've already come up with 7 things I can't do.

Now, I'm a bit late on this tag, so nearly everyone I would have liked to tag have already been tagged. And most of the others don't like memes like these. So I can't tag seven people. Maybe a few:

People(untagged) I would like to tag:
Entropy, Max (Voyager XIV)
Sandeep (Spicy Mix)
JJ (The Churning)
The Fifth of a Quack a.k.a Nikhil (Maybe It's Me)

As to how this works, here's what Tsunami had to say "To the best of my knowledge the tagging game works as such.. Now the seven people I've tagged have to put up similar posts on their blog where in they tag seven more people.. So on and so forth..."

That's it. That's all there is to it.

Bye, for now. And this time, it's for real.

I should have stopped writing here after this post. But for some reason, I didn't. This time, I hope to have more control over myself, and start studying. I've less than a week for my theory exams. Since I'll be gone for a while, here are a few things to keep you occupied:

1.

Here's picture of... Er... Of... Frankly, I'm not quite sure what. Take a wild guess. And look at the full size version of the picture before you do. If you do.

2. Forty Faces. A fantastic idea, from Philipp Lenssen of Google Blogoscoped. You have to see it to understand.

3. After some interesting words thrown here, I think this site requires a disclaimer. I came up with one in about a minute. Here it is.

4. Archives, archives, archives. Browse through the archives.

5. If you're still bored, try refreshing this page. You'll notice something about the tagline.

That's it, then. I'll probably be going through the phases of Survival, Inquiry and Sophistication whilst studying for my exams. On second thought, I'll probably go only through the phase of Inquiry.

The horrifying power of MMORPGs.

For the uninitiated: MMORPG is short for Massively (or massive) Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. They're basically multiplayer role-playing games. Tens of thousands of people (hence "massive") get to play in a virtual world at the same time over the Internet in MMORPGs. And I hate them. The MMORPGs, not the people.

Ragnarok was the first MMORPG I ever played. I hated it for the same reason most people hate something new - I couldn't understand a damn thing. From what I could make of it, I was a dwarf (not the mythological kind) who suffered from malnutrition. And I had to kill creatures of different species. How entertaining.

But that was many moons ago, and that game isn't the reason for writing this. This week, I happened to land myself in the fantasy world of an MMORPG again. Only this time, it was text-based, and addictive. I haven't the slightest idea why, though.

Achaea - Dreams of Divine Lands is the game. I've lived a major part of this week in it. I don't stop to think why I'm playing it. I just do. Even though I hate it. I've completely forgotten the art of bathing. The last time that happened was when I played Max Payne. But that was good. This is bad. Baaaad.

I've killed wildcats, bats, rats, earned lots of gold, learnt martial arts and tried living like a monk in the game. What I haven't done is check to see if I can still move my legs out here.

Luckily, there's a "suicide" option. BAM! I'm dead. I was dead. I created a new character and have started all over. Sigh...

Update: And here, yet again, is a spanking new template, created entirely by yours truly. Well, almost entirely. Best viewed in Firefox.

Why you shouldn't give me a camera

I'm enjoying my new Cyber-shot T7. I really am. Really.

Good luck will come to you if you can figure out what's in this picture.

The following image can be very disturbing.

Today, the powers that be have granted me access to the Sony's slimmest digicam(so far). You know what that means? Here's a little clue:



That's right! More crap!

Parlour Steps, anyone?

In my quest for new music, I came across this Canadian band called Parlour Steps. They're classified as a Progressive Rock band but they prefer to be known as a "Thought-Rock" band. If you're open to all kinds of music, you ought to try listening to them. Get free (AND legal :)) mp3s of a few songs from their latest album, "The Great Perhaps" at Download.com. Try "Libertine Takes a Lover". It's good. They're good.

Great, just great...

I can't spew hate anymore. NetAuthority.org says so. The websites of Microsoft, The Vatican, UNICEF, The White House, Nickelodeon and more are considered by them as spreading hate and violence. Too bad it's a spoof.

Call this an update if you like...

Two posts on the same day, for a change. But this one's just to tell you that I won't be updating either of my blogs for quite a while due to the ongoing practical exams - I had one yesterday and I have one tomorrow - and also the upcoming semester exams. Those aren't the only reasons... I find it hard to think when my diet consists only of burgers, pizzas, Pepsi and the occasional starvation when at home, cuz my folks ain't here, and they didn't expect me to stay away from the hostel, and I'm just too lazy to cook for myself.

Off I go to the burger that awaits my sharp teeth and some Java (No, not coffee...).

Oh no, not Jackson again...

(Image from Google Image Search)
The return of Michael Jackson is something I'm not looking forward to, especially when it's back in the court. This time, the men of law want him to be a part of a jury. Haven't they had enough of him already? I sure have. Anyway, the chances of him actually being a juror are slim, considering that he's shifted to Bahrain. Yup, Bahrain. Apparently, he's the guest of the Crown Prince Sheikh something. Jackson is wearing those Arab robes and headgear to "avoid attracting attention to himself" and to "fit in with local culture".

He's not just quitting the entertainment industry either... He's doing a charity single soon, for the victims of hurricane Katrina. Sigh...

Walking through walls might be possible??!!

Guys at the Penn State University seem to think so. Apparently they even have proof! Moses Chan, a professor at Penn State, and his colleagues have created what they call "supersolids" - crystals that can slide through each other. This is what Moses Chan says - "Imagine you have an orchestra together, but everyone is playing their own tune, until they begin to follow a conductor. In a normal solid, every atom has its own behavior until very close to absolute zero. Then quantum mechanics takes over and dictates everyone to play the same tune." Metaphorical chap.

I'm reminded of the T-1000 from Terminator 2. Remember the liquid nitrogen scene? Tiny droplets of the T-1000's liquid metal structure run back together to form a complete body, after being shattered by T-800 (Schwarzenegger, in case you were wondering). Supersolids do something similar. In Chan's words - "In classical physics, objects cannot share the same space. If I run into you, there will be a collision and the motion will stop. But in quantum mechanics, we become one thing."

Read more here and here.

This could be interesting... Imagine falling through the floor!

Pranic Healing is a load of old guff.

So I said I would update more frequently. And I did. Maybe not here, but I managed to update College Life last week. Check that out once in a while, and then complain.

If you're one of those "spiritually inclined" people constantly on the look out for new avenues in the field (of "spiritual inclination", of course), you've probably heard of Pranic healing, and the guy who's been yakking his mouth all over the place about it, the so-called "Master" Choa Kok Sui. Now, I wouldn't have cared if this Chopsuey fellow went around spreading the message of Pranic healing if he didn't bother me in any way. But by some hellish coincidence, his path crossed mine.

It was a couple of years ago, in Dubai. The local newspaper started it all. What seemed to be a harmless advertisement ended up dragging me all the way to a congregation of Pranic healing fans with my parents. Choa Kok Sui was giving a speech that night. My mom actually believed all of what he said, and became an ardent Pranic healer soon after. Hell, she even has a degree or two to prove it.

So why is Pranic healing a load of old guff? Well, that very year, I had this problem with my leg. It hurt if I stood for a few minutes. My mom isn’t exactly an “advanced” Pranic healer, so she asked one of her “advanced” Pranic healing friends to diagnose my problem. And what did they come up with? STRESS! A 17 year old, who couldn’t care less about himself or the world around him, was under STRESS, which caused the pain in the leg. Sheesh.

After visiting 3 good physicians, the root of the pain was found to be a slipped disk in my back which was pressing a nerve which went down to my leg. It’s a friggin SLIP DISK, you morons! Not STRESS!!!

Phew, that felt good.

You searched for what??!! / Why MSN search sucks

There was a time when I used to update this blog daily. And now, 28 nauseating Kenny Rogers songs later, that time is back! Well, kinda. Taking pity on my few loyal readers (apparently, I do have some), I've decided to update semi-daily (I just know I'm gonna hate myself later for this). That could be anywhere from once in two days to once a week. Subscribing to my feed could be worthwhile now. It's there in the sidebar if you have the patience to scroll down far enough.

And now, for today's update:

While looking through my site stats, I spotted some interesting keywords which've lead blokes to this blog. It's quite funny what people search for using MSN Search. Here are a few examples:

kabala anime images: Now, I'm not too familiar with anime, except for what's shown on TV. Yes, I do watch badly drawn characters who, by some magical power of theirs, are able to make different sounds by moving their mouths in the same way over and over again. After doing a Google (not MSN) search, I ended up at a site of ill repute... So, if you're one of those who've ended up here searching for such images, and you don't know the difference between a link to an image and a link to a site, you could try this site.

chat room for blondes: NO, this site does NOT have any chat room for blondes, or people with any other hair colour. It just has a couple of mentions of the word "blonde" when I once expressed my irritation of dumb blonde and sardar jokes. Why would you be looking for stupid chat rooms to while away time when you have this blog to read? If you DO want a chat room for blondes, go HERE.

blondes in chennai: Another blonde search. Don't people know when to quit? I didn't even know there were blondes in chennai... Are there blonde Indians in the first place?

fried bugs country: Ok, so I DID have a post about fried bugs. What kind of weirdo would actually go searching for fried bugs? I've heard of Country Fried Chicken and Country Fried Lamb, but Country Fried Bugs??!!

dps incident: Refer link in last line under "kabala anime images".

Right, that's it for today. My blogs don't show up when these terms are searched for in Google, only in MSN. And I don't hate Kenny Rogers, I just find his music nauseating. Especially when he sings about murder, death and unsuccessful love with glee, like in that song "Tomb of the Unknown Love".

Yet another template change... For the better?

This one took me very little time compared to the previous ones. Just had to change a few things here and there in the template to give it a seemingly new appearance. I'm running out of ideas for headers... Nothing special about this one. Optimized for 1024x768, unlike the others. This looks terrible in 800x600. I think I should've stopped this post with the title...

Independence Day

That's today. While the prime minister's off making (false?) promises and talking about the nation's progress at the Red Fort, I was busy updating the College life blog with a post on some ridiculous things that happened, thanks to my birthday, at the hostel. Apparently, it's a crime to celebrate one's birthday. More at College Life.

I can't rant about a slow internet connection anymore (have I ever done that?). I've got broadband! Now I can actually perform illegal activities like downloading copyrighted movies and entire music albums. Yay. A toast to broadband, it really brings out the criminal in you.

A year old, today. Explanations, anyone?

Yep, today's the first anniversary of this blog. Browsing through the archives, I noticed that I don't have an introductory post. The first post of most blogs usually involve a brief introduction of the blogger and some explanations as to why the blogger is blogging, blah, blah, blah. I never did that.

And so, I've decided that I'm gonna do some explaining. No, I'm not going to talk about myself or explain why I started this blog. I'm about to answer a question several people have been pestering me with. The ultimate question, the answer of which isn't 42.

Why the pseudonym "The Ranting Human"?

Sheep in the Big City. Ever watch that cartoon? Quite hilarious. There's this character who comes at the end of every episode. He rants a lot. The Ranting Swede, that's what he's called. That's how I came up with "The Ranting Human".

Why not "The Ranting Indian"? (The ultimate question eventually leads to more questions, you know)

I dunno. Probably cuz it wouldn't suit a global audience? Hell, I never thought about an audience when I set up this blog, so it can't be that.

But you hardly rant! Shouldn't you be called "The (A)Musing Human" or something?

Don't you know when to shut up?

It's my birthday.

So down to your knees! And shout "Hail the Ranting Human!". Or do a good deed. Or get a life. Why are you even here? Get a nice haircut for a change. Or if you have played Monkey Island, try living like Guybrush Threepwood. Yeah. And, if you still have nothing to do, read the archives. It takes a lot of time, believe me.

And those are the things you can do for free. Now, if you're the benevolent kind and have some spare change in your pocket, you can go to hell. I've heard it costs a lot to go there.

The following is udder crap.

If you're thinking "cow dung", think again. No, it's not milk either, though technically that's what it ought to be. It's "bull shit", you moron!

Here I am, blogging, 16 hours before another set of internal tests starts. Strange... Many of my posts are on the eve of some kind of exam. I wonder what that means...

So why is this post "udder crap"? Well, statistics show that 2 outta 3 people like to read posts which claim to be udder crap (I could find only 3 people who were willing to cooperate) in a hope to find some vague instance of humor to cheer up their awfully boring lives. The third can try bungee jumping from any tall, sturdy object without the bungee, or beg for mercy. Not that begging for mercy would help...

If you've come this far, maybe you're not a moron. But I'm not calling you a genius, either. I'm not telling you why.

My birthday is coming up in a couple of days. How does that figure in a post which is supposed to be udder crap? Make a wild guess.

(I was actually applauding my intellect for coming up with the phrase "udder crap" before I googled it. 496 websites beat me to it. Damn Google.)

The game that ruined my life.

Hacking. Some lunatic is hacking at another man's throat with a hatchet. Strangely, the victim doesn't make a sound. There's only one sound - chopping. Chop, chop, chop. A neanderthal chopping sound. They are deep inside what looks like a jungle. No jungle noises, though. No crickets, no wolves, no cracking of twigs, not even the sound of the raining blood. Another chop. It was then that I finally agreed I had watched Sin City too many times and woke up from my slumber.

But the chopping didn't stop. I realized it wasn't chopping. The sound was coming from the computer. It was from the game that ruined my life. My mother was playing it. "Squarez" by Eric Burgess. Ever since it was installed, my holidays (Yeah, holidays... Haven't you been reading College Life?) haven't been too much fun. All you have to do in the game is identify square patterns in a two dimensional array of balls of assorted colours. For reasons I don't understand, my mom finds this game addictive. My daily mission is this: To beat my mother to the computer. If I fail in this mission, I have to suffer for hours without my computer, for my mom's exceptionally good at the game. The pain...

To allay my pain, I started to fiddle around with my semi-destroyed keyboard, trying to make music of some kind. A friend of mine, who is quite an extraordinary guitarist/singer/harmonica player (known as Entropy, Max in the blogosphere) once played this song called "House of the Rising Sun". I'd never heard the song before, but I found that I liked it almost immediately. The original song was by The Animals, which I still haven't heard. Coming to the point, the weird noises I was making with my keyboard started sounding less weird and more like the song aforementioned.

Of course, since I've never heard the original, I didn't know how the whole song went. I remembered only the initial part of what he played. Also, he had excellent strumming skills, which I, being no guitarist (or musician, for that matter) had no chance of recreating. So I kinda modified the half-song here and there, replaced the vocals with my keyboard and recorded the cacophony. For your listening pleasure (Displeasure might be more appropriate), here's a low quality version of the song. I didn't have the patience to upload the high quality(but still horrible sounding) version.

To stream(i.e, play the song without downloading the entire file in advance)the song, click here. (Note: Winamp required, Windows Media Player doesn't seem to work)

To download the song, click here. (If clicking doesn't work, right-click and select "Save Link As"/"Save Target As". Any mp3 playing software will do. File Size:570 KB)

To Pass Time.

Someone just came up with a new idea for Wikipedia. And someone implemented it. Check out WikiTrivia by Philipp Lenssen of Google Blogoscoped. It's a quiz game which works by pulling articles from Wikipedia. Pretty tough.

I discovered the true potential of the radio in Yahoo! Messenger this week. I have now configured my station to play only Jethro Tull (Did I mention I like Jethro Tull?)... Though they seem to have only 2 albums (Aqualung and Original Masters). Apart from my station, the Folk and Jazz stations seem to be good. Rufus Wainwright's version of The Beatles' "Across The Universe" is being played over and over again, probably due to a lack of a good collection of folk music at Yahoo.

One more thing... My second semester exams start tomorrow, so you won't be seeing me for quite some time. Toodle-pip!

Nothing out of the ordinary... NOT!

The past week at college had some weird happenings, including being placed under house arrest. Check out College Life to know more.

I was checking out some blogs, when I stumbled upon this interesting post, about how you can make new fingerprints. If MIB can remove fingerprints, surely you can make new ones yourself? Check it out here.

I've been told that the colour combination in this new template is good. I don't like the header though, and hope to change it soon.

That's all for now. Yes, really. My mind has become number than usual. My powers of imagination have reduced drastically. Forget interesting stuff, I don't even know how to write bullshit anymore. But that doesn't mean I'm quitting. I'll be back.

Update, May 21: To my readers and to anyone who cares, the line about the header can be ignored, for I changed the header almost immediately after the above post. That line was referring to the previous header which can be found here: bannerbeta.

It's a tough world out there.

For a long time, I've been surrounded by relatives and “family friends”. And curious ones at that. They were always keen on knowing what I was doing, where I was going, etc. It never seemed to occur to them that I could use some privacy. They were constantly at my shoulders. In addition to being nosy, they also kept driving me to insanity by asking me all sorts of favours, and pestering me to call them every week and listen to their drab stories and have futile conversations which involved gossip I couldn’t care less for.

And then, the inevitable happened. I decided that once I started to make my own living, I would seek isolation; I would go someplace where none of these fools could find me. But in view of the events of the last few days, I might have to reconsider my plans.

Friday, April 15th. I’m supposed to get my passport renewed. I go to this place called “Shastri Bhavan”, where all things passport related are taken care of. After what seemed like eternity (forgive the superfluous use of hackneyed lines), I was allowed to meet the person who does the job. Unfortunately, since I became a major last year, I would have to obtain a “Verification Certificate”, verifying that the minor me and the major me is the same person minus the age difference. This certificate ought to bear the seal of high-ranking government officials, people like the deputy secretary to the government of India or the State’s government, my district’s magistrate, or the Inspector General of police. I don’t know what I would have done if it weren’t for my dad’s contacts. He knew one of the secretaries to the State.

I can’t imagine how someone who doesn’t know enough people can survive in this world. I thought I could, but now I’m not so sure about it. Does that mean I can’t ever live in utter isolation? I damn sure hope not.

P.S: Does the purple background hurt the eye? I've meddled a lot with the template...

The quality of spam has deteriorated.

Yes, you read that right. There was a time when spam mail had some quality. Being a user of the world wide web for nearly a decade now, I've seen a lot of spam. If my memory serves me right, most of the spam I received had a specific subject, detailed information on what the person/company is offering, and an option of unsubscription (despite the fact that I had never subscribed in the first place). Mails like "Free Tablet PC for you now!" and "Claim your Complimentary $250 Gift Card!" were well presented, and even had contact information.

But now, all the spam I get is filled with random words. Spammers have lost direction. Take a look:

To:	********@yahoo.com
Date:	Sat, 2 Apr 2005 18:33:24 -0800
From:	"SuperOffer"
Subject:	powngqwertypjo

lendingtree lexington law firm lexington law eloan trans union equity line of credit eloan com baines and ernst Mesothelioma mega life and health ocean finance yahoo domain ross simon jewelry trans union eloan equity line of credit eloan com Mesothelioma symptoms mega life and health yahoo domain lendingtree ross simon jewelry lexington law firm lexington law baines and ernst eloan credit cards baines and ernst car hire in malaga eloan ocean finance Mesothelioma mega life and health trans union equity line of credit lendingtree lexington law eloan yahoo domain Mesothelioma ross simon jewelry eloan trans union budget car rental buy domain name baines and ernst


123456789qwerty
►╤╣

This is totally senseless spam. The whole purpose of spam is lost. What has the world come to?

A test can tell me what I believe in, and I can't??

This is what a test I took tells me about my beliefs. Sheesh...

You scored as Satanism. Your beliefs most closely resemble those of Satanism! Before you scream, do a bit of research on it. To be a Satanist, you don't actually have to believe in Satan. Satanism generally focuses upon the spiritual advancement of the self, rather than upon submission to a deity or a set of moral codes. Do some research if you immediately think of the satanic cult stereotype. Your beliefs may also resemble those of earth-based religions such as paganism.

Satanism		79%
agnosticism		63%
atheism		58%
Hinduism		42%
Paganism		42%
Buddhism		33%
Islam		21%
Judaism		17%
Christianity		4%

Which religion is the right one for you? (new version)
created with QuizFarm.com

What if?

A friend and I had a long conversation today, not quite as desultory as long conversations tend to be. It was about human beings in general, if we are right. And my brain still hasn't stopped hurting from thinking about the possibilities.

We do a lot of things in our lives. How do we know if what we do is right, and how do we know that the way in which we are doing what we do is the way in which to do them? Is it a basic instinct of man, or are we just doing what we're taught to do? Let's take an example. We eat with our mouths. Is it necessary that we should eat only with our mouths? How do we know if that's the only way to eat? Maybe there are other, more efficient ways to eat and digest food. Maybe the mouth wasn't meant for eating at all. How do we know for sure? What is it that makes us do what we do? We weren't taught how to breathe, were we?

The only way we(my friend and I) could figure out to test whether man was doing things out of instinct or from what he learns in life, was to raise a child without interacting with him, to bring him up like how a plant is grown, giving him only the basic necessities. After he's become strong enough, we put him in front of some kind of danger and see how he reacts. There are some fundamental flaws even in this; one of them is that, by giving him basic necessities, we are exposing him to parts of the external world. He might learn something from them. Then there is the possibility of the child becoming mentally retarded due to inadequate interaction with the environment. Also, it is impossible to carry out such an experiment, even if it was, we wouldn't be the ones to do it, for humanitarian reasons.

We take it for granted that we are the highest among all beings. In school, we are taught that Man is at the crest of the food chain; that all other beings only live to serve us, directly or indirectly. Isn't it possible that we might not be at the top, that our existence might be serving some unknown purpose, that we might be working for something bigger than us? What if we were?

Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith) said something in "The Matrix" that comes to my mind now. It goes like this: "I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure." Biotechnologists have found a way to use the way in which a virus acts to their advantage. What if someone/something is using the way in which we act to their advantage?

The news tends to get boring when it's all about Michael Jackson.

Mikey comes to court. Mikey leaves court. Mikey makes little boys
drunk. Mikey denies everything.

Yeesh. When you think about it, it's a bit odd to find a guy, who was
once called the "King Of Pop", in the news more frequently when he's
in deep excreta rather than when he's breaking records. There isn't a
day which goes by without me hearing about Michael Jackson's trial.
Why can't people sue some other celebrity for a change?? Like Bill Gates or someone...

In other news, my dad got me an MP3 player, without me even asking for
one. It's not what I would have asked for if I had the chance, but it
I don't mind it. It's a Creative MuVo TX FM player, with a 1 GB hard
disk. I know he could've bought a cheaper player with a larger
capacity... Ah well.

Now that I have access to the college's internet service, which isn't
as slow as it initially appeared, I'm on an MP3 downloading spree.
I've already stuffed the MuVo, and I'm planning on downloading more
than just MP3s after I get all the songs off it.

Coming to something I'm really pissed about... my semester exam results. Contrary to my expectations, I scraped through Math. But, outta nowhere, my computer exam result was F, instead of being my top score. Someone's going to pay for this... and it's not gonna be me.

Didn't spend much time on the new template, so don't bother complaining about it.

Wanna go to jail? Display the national flag.

Or do something with it. That's what the Indian government is telling everyone now. Narain Karthikeyan, who has now entered the world of Formula 1, has just been told to change his helmet. Why? It displays the national colours - saffron, white and green. The guy works assiduously for his country, gets it into the highest zone of the motorworld and he's not allowed to show his pride in being an Indian. Karthikeyan feels that it's the government's loss that he can't display the tricolour. Without those colours, he gains extra space on his helmet, which he could give to sponsors.

Even the cricket team has been asked to withdraw all forms of the national flag from its uniform. The reason given was that the Indian flag embossed on their helmet or their costume was "violative of Prevention of Insults to the National Honour Act, 1971". Nineteen Seventy One. What the hell was the government doing all these years??!! These sportsmen are merely trying to bring glory to the country, not to defame the national flag.

According to the act, "The scope of the law is restricted to overt acts of insult to and attack on, the national symbols by burning, trampling, defiling or mutilating in public." If the government really intends to follow this act, most of the Indian population should be serving time by now; for every year, on Independence Day, they "mutilate" the national flag with a pin that holds it to their clothing.

Something is terribly wrong with the government. God help us.

For more news about Karthikeyan's helmet being banned - Click here. To read the act which brought about all this fuss - Click here.

How Bloggers Blog.

Disclaimer: This post is not a tutorial on how to blog. Too many people have done that already. Also, this is not a factual report of how bloggers blog. I don't do surveys. End of fine print.



Please read the above fine print before continuing. (Yes, I do realize that if an idiot who follows instructions blindly were to read that sentence, he/she would never read the rest of the post. I'm assuming that you aren't one, for if you were one, you wouldn't have gotten this far).



When I first started out as a blogger, back in February last year, I was blogging under my real name. After a month though, I stopped entirely. I came back in August, with a new blog, and a pseudonym for myself. The pseudonym prevented people from knowing who I am. Temporarily, at least. Now there are quite a few people who know this blogger.



Pseudonyms are quite common in the blogosphere. To some it's obvious why. Most bloggers don't want people who know them personally to come across their blog, for there might be some kind of incriminating words about them. For instance, if I knew that my parents were reading my blog (and I know that they don't), I wouldn't have written half the stuff I have.



For others, it could be a totally different issue. If the blogger knows that a particular person is reading his/her blog, the blogger might try to blog in a manner completely different from the usual, to paint a different picture in that person's mind. I don't fall into this category, but for the sake of an example, if I knew that a certain someone I know is reading this blog, the words I use might tend to be the words I would want to use when in conversation with that person. Too confusing? Forget it. Skip to the end of this post. If not, read on.



People forget that they have the freedom to write what they want to, what they feel they need to. They fear rejection, or feel that they might hurt somebody. The social nature of human beings restricts them from expressing their emotions. Alas, that cannot be helped, because humans are social animals.



Now for some general stuff, which has nothing to do with what's written above.



Lately, I've seen numerous photos and wallpapers of sports cars. Add that to a weekly dose of "Top Gear" on BBC, and a primal desire for hot wheels has been stirred in me. I'm talking with someone, and my mind drifts away to a Jaguar or a BMW. Especially the BMW Z4. I just want to drive it for one day. I'm actually planning on leasing the BMW Z4, if I ever visit one of those places where it's been released, and if I ever get enough money. On second thought, leasing a BMW Z4 sounds impossible...



Something about the current template bothers me, I can't figure out what. I wonder if I should revert to the first one. If you've never seen the previous templates of this blog, check them out : 1, 2.

Changed the template. Again. Yes, in just 5 days. I know.

I just felt that the whole thing was too dull. And I might have been infringing some copyrights by using those anime pictures. Now here's a brand new template, created entirely by me! Again!



Since I'll be busy studying for my exams, I won't be posting for a while. So, to keep you occupied, here are some of my previous posts, cuz you'd probably be too lazy to dig into my shallow archives. Read them at least now.



Chances of aliens finding Earth disappearing?



Matrix or Ghost In The Shell??



Spiderman 2 is quite disappointing



Power implant aims to run on body heat



Why do we exist?



Is anyone truly selfless?



Handwriting problems...



Death : something to fear or something to look forward to?

Bart Simpson's Chalkboard Exercises

If you're a fan of The Simpsons, you would've noticed how Bart writes exercises on the board during the opening credits. The following is a list of most of those writings, guaranteed to make you chuckle:

• I will not carve gods.
• I will not spank others.
• I will not aim for the head.
• I will not barf unless I'm sick
• I will not expose the ignorance of the faculty.
• I saw nothing unusual in the teacher's lounge.
• I will not conduct my own fire drills.
• Funny noises are not funny.
• I will not snap bras.
• I will not fake seizures.
• This punishment is not boring and pointless.
• My name is not Dr. Death.
• I will not defame New Orleans.
• I will not prescribe medication.
• I will not bury the new kid.
• I will not teach others to fly.
• I will not bring sheep to class.
• A burp is not an answer.
• Teacher is not a leper.
• Coffee is not for kids.
• I will not eat things for money.
• I will not yell "She's Dead" at roll call.
• The principal's toupee is not a Frisbee.
• I will not call the principal "spud head".
• Goldfish don't bounce.
• Mud is not one of the 4 food groups.
• No one is interested in my underpants.
• I will not sell miracle cures.
• I will return the seeing-eye dog.
• I do not have diplomatic immunity.
• I will not charge admission to the bathroom.
• I will never win an emmy.
• The cafeteria deep fryer is not a toy.
• All work and no play makes Bart a dull boy.
• I will not say "Springfield" just to get applause.
• I am not authorized to fire substitute teachers.
• My homework was not stolen by a one-armed man.
• I will not go near the kindergarten turtle.
• I am not deliciously saucy.
• Organ transplants are best left to professionals.
• The Pledge of Allegiance does not end with "Hail Satan".
• I will not celebrate meaningless milestones.
• There are plenty of businesses like show business.
• Five days is not too long to wait for a gun.
• I will not waste chalk.
• I will not skateboard in the halls.
• I will not instigate revolution.
• I will not draw naked ladies in class.
• I did not see Elvis.
• I will not call my teacher "Hot Cakes".
• Garlic gum is not funny.
• They are laughing at me, not with me.
• I will not yell "Fire" in a crowded classroom.
• I will not encourage others to fly.
• I will not fake my way through life.
• Tar is not a plaything.
• I will not Xerox my butt.
• It's potato, not potatoe.
• I will not trade pants with others.
• I am not a 32 year old woman.
• I will not do that thing with my tongue.
• I will not drive the principal's car.
• I will not pledge allegiance to Bart.
• I will not sell school property.
• I will not burp in class.
• I will not cut corners.
• I will not get very far with this attitude.
• I will not belch the National Anthem.
• I will not sell land in Florida.
• I will not grease the monkey bars.
• I will not hide behind the Fifth Amendment.
• I will not do anything bad ever again.
• I will not show off.
• I will not sleep through my education.
• I am not a dentist.
• Spitwads are not free speech.
• Nobody likes sunburn slappers.
• High explosives and school don't mix.
• I will not bribe Principal Skinner.
• I will not squeak chalk.
• I will finish what I sta
• "Bart Bucks" are not legal tender.
• Underwear should be worn on the inside.
• The Christmas Pageant does not stink.
• I will not torment the emotionally frail.
  
  

New Template

I finally got the time to create a new template for the blog. I was tempted to use one from BlogSkins.com, but I decided to create one on my own again. I'm a big fan of Rurouni Kenshin, more popularly known as Samurai X, and the Get Backers. This template isn't complete yet; I want to spice up the background and the sidebar headers. Maybe later.



There are "Tsunami Relief" organizations popping up everywhere. Some of these aren't really aiding the victims of the South East Asian tsunami disaster, but actually cashing in on the disaster by putting up fake websites and asking for donations. Yes, they are cold-hearted, rotten sneaks who don't deserve to live. If you want to help the real victims, you need to contact official organizations. To help you out, I'm providing a list of websites through which you can contribute your little bit to help the unfortunate:



Google's list Tsunami Relief organizations

Indian Prime Minister's Office

Sulekha Tsunami Relief Fund

Sarvodaya - A Sri Lankan Foundation

DEC - Tsunami Earthquake Appeal

ReliefWeb