And so arose the phoenix...
Monday, January 28, 2008
Falls down slowly,
seeps into the ground
isn’t just flowing water,
won’t stop until your brain is found….
Acid…..Acid Rain…..
Such was my state of mind, when I quit blogging. One thing after another kept smashing into me like a hurricane. Things aren’t normal even now, but now I know, the only way to become normal is to try to “be normal”. And what’s better than a new home to rejuvenate you. So, here it is. My shiny, flowery, and over-all feel-good blawg is back for your bouquets and brick-bats at
http://blog.shantanugoel.com . Most of the things have been migrated from my old blog here minus a few paining posts, plus not all the posts are tagged, categorized yet. Will do that gradually. Blogs shall be added back to the blogroll after some cutting-shutting. The theme is also be polished around the corners. Just getting the hang of this cool thing-a-magic that wordpress is.
Not just this, I’ve also given shape to an old desire - to have my own tech blog. Head over to
"My Technophilic Musings." (http://tech.shantanugoel.com)
Thats it for today. Hope to see you there soon...
Call The Internet!!!!!!!
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Just saw this on a show called "Attack of the Show" on
G4 TV and just had to blog about it. Apparantely, there is this site that has opened just 3 days ago and what is it called? Its called "
Call The Internet".
What does it do? What is its purpose? Those are the questions that arise when one goes to the page because of their unique and *intricate* design of the website. Just go there and see it first before I proceed further. I'll just while away some time.
LALALALALALALALALA *Whiling away some time* LALALALALALALA...
LALALALALALALALALA *U done yet? No? Still Whiling away some time*LALALALALA....
LALALALALALALALALA *Ok, so u r back*. Lets stop the *whiling away some time* and move further....
So, now that you are confused as to where this is heading (and are probably deranged or maybe even frustrated enough to strangle me for having wasted your time). Now what they do is still not completely understood by me but one of their *wide array* of services is that you can "call up the internet". HUH? That was quite brilliant of me...well, the concept is that if you don't "have" the internet, or a computer, you can just call up Mr. Internet and ask the guy himself "Wuzzup". Like you can call up the number given and give them an address and ask em to explain to you what that site looks like, or maybe summarize the content for you, and so on. You do the math (even if there is no math involved here)..
Incredible, isn't it?? ;)
Fragging all the way
Saturday, June 04, 2005
well guys, u must have been wondering where I disappeared after coming back to the blogging scene after so many days. Well, I've gotta a confession to make. One of my old loves is back. Yes, here in the US. And in so many forms. Yupz am talking abt games. My sweet darlings. Just can tell you how ecstatic I feel while holding that flak cannon in my hands in UT2004. It feels like roses are being showered all around me as I shred up my opponents in a crammed up online room. And the high that I get when tony Hawk himself salutes me after I pull off a 1080 in THUG2. And neways, vin diesel can never even come close to the drifts that I do in NFSUG2. Mr. Gordon Freeman (of HL and HL2 fame) is awaiting his turn right now cuz the rest of my time is prettty tied up with his highness himself, yeah a prince, the "Prince of Persia". So, please forgive me for not writing more often cuz as soon as I try to write, the games just take control of my fingers and they just want me to do the tango on the keyboard and mosue rather than doing a military march of typing. Neways, now that the initial euphoria of the heavenly reunion is over, I guess I can now settle down and write more often. So, u can expect me to be a bit more regular. :D
And for being so patient, heres a gift.
Stealth bomber caught on google maps. Zoom a little to locate it.
I've learnt.....
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Today was a day when some important lessons were learnt, lessons that would change my outlook towards life, lessons that would leave imprint on me forever. What lessons? These lessons:
1. No matter how hard you try, whatever you buy will be available at a lower price somwhere else. The hard disk enclosure that I bought for 60$, after a research of 3 weeks, was available for just 30$ at fry's.
2. Never fill in you mail-in-rebate form before checking the stuff that u've bought. The linksys router that I bought today doesnt work, but I realized this only after i had filled in and mailed the rebate form. The chances of a refund on this one look bleak. :( (Another 40 bucks down the drain).
3. Good times don't last long, they are always eaten up by greed. The blazing net speeds here just compelled me into downloading a bit too much and my ethernet port was blocked by the Hotel's ISP today. Have got it unblocked now but with a warning. :(
4. A blog is a man's best friend. As I sit here in the dark corner of my hotel room, with no one to talk to, with no shoulder to rest my head upon, the blog is my only reprieve, my only confidante, *sob* *sob*
Neways, I'll be strong. The dark force cometh. O sysadmin, beware, may the force (of port forwarding, Mac spoofing and packet encrypting, be with me....
And yeah, here is a pic of my new found love. :)
Making a Comeback
Thursday, May 26, 2005
AT LAST!!!!!
Yeah, the d00d is back in the house. I had not blogged since the time I had reached here. Thats over a month...
Why? No man, I was not busy. But its just that the gora log do only one thing in office, and that is "work". They do have their share of fun at the work place but still they believe in working hard for 8.5 hrs and then start thinking abt the fun part.
They have perfectly divided their lives in two parts: professional and personal and dont let any of them intermingle. They keep their personal matters restricted to their homes and also keeps stringent limits on the hrs they spend in the office (And they also efficiently utilize each and every minute of that spent in the office).
Well, enuff of the background info. The point is, I couldn't blog from the office and didn't have any source to access net at hotel. But now I got my laptop (Yipppeee)....
Thanks to all those who had given me inputs to finalize my shopping list, I have done a sizable amount of my buying. Here are the things I have bought so far:
1. Laptop.
Specs: Compaq R4000 series. 15.4" WUXGA with bright view screen, AMD Athlon 64 bit 2.0 GHz processor,
1 GB RAM, 128 MB ATi Radeon Xpress 200 m Gfx card, DVD writer, etc...
2. iPod
3. Digicam: Canon Powershot S1 IS (Just love the 10x zoom)
4. An extra 120 gig hdd
5. 1 GB CF card
and some small tit bits....
The major thing I like abt the states so far is the driving part...everyone drives in such a civilized manner....
But facing a bit of problem in the food deptt as its difficult to find good veg food.
Neways, thats it for now. Pics next time....
Leaving on a jet plane...
Friday, April 22, 2005
All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go..
am standing here outside ur door....
and so goes the song, but the difference is that I don't hate to go. I'm excited...
So guys, my next post will be from Dallas as my flight leaves tonight...:)
Woes of a "holiday" Tortured soul..
Saturday, April 16, 2005
My friends told me that you cant survive in Dallas without driving and you can't drive without an IDP (International Driving Permit)...
So began my crusade to get one. Left for chandigarh on thursday. The mission was simple:
1. Go to State Transport Office.
2. Give forms to officer (all forms already completed) for stamp and signature.
3. Come Back
But as it turned out later, the enemy was prepared. The 3-point agenda was just a trap to lure me behind enemy lines...
Each point branched off to several other points and to perplex and torture me further, even recursion was thrown in.
WARNING: For the weak at heart, this is a good point to stop. Cuz the details below are quite gory and graphic. Any resultant effects, like frustration, hair tearing, teeth grinding, etc, will not be my responsibility.
So, let the story begin...
Woke up to a melodious tone ringing in my cell. It was my alarm...
After such a long time, I had seen morning, yeah, I woke up at 7:00. Birds were chirping, a mild breeze blowing outside...The day seemed to be off to a good start...
Came out of my place to find a baba (saint) standing there, who, on seeing me, instantly uttered the words "
Videsh yatra nikat hai baccha". (Foreign travel is near, my child). The day was indeed good. I managed a smile...:)
Well, the first point went off well. Reached the STO (State Transport Office)....
Knocked at the door of the official who had to sign and stamp my papers. No response...
Waited a bit and knocked again. No Response. Opened the door and peered in.. It was empty.. A peon saw me and said, "Madam Chhutti pe hai" (Ma'am is on leave). Is it starting to go wrong? I thought.
Met another officer and was told "Since wednesday and thursday were holidays, so she took the friday off. She's the only one in this office who can sign ur papers. However you can go to another office near high court. One Mr. X is also authorised to sign."
Nothing to worry yaar, i told myself..
Went to the office and what do I find, Mr. X is absent. Why? Same reason as before...But then you can go to DC's office. ADC will sign it.
At ADC's office when the same episode was repeated I had started to crumble...
Someone told me to go to old STO but they said nothing was done there now. Then came back to new STO. Then a guy gave me a ray of hope. Gave me a slip and asked me to meet someone in the second office. Then in the second office i was given a slip and asked to meet someone in the first office and told that work will surely be done. And guess who was i supposed to meet.
I found out when I came to room no 3. It was the same room where I had knocked first thing in the morning...
Then I was told that my work would be done on monday...But alas, our merciful Government, Monday has also been declared a holiday and here I am, the tortured soul, back in my office, torturing souls like you and deriving sadistic pleasures out of it...
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