News Map

My project...let me know what you think..
http://tokyo.clic.cs.columbia.edu:6125/NewsMap/

MUSE ROCKS!!!

Thanks CK for the mp3s!

I will eventually start my music review website sometime next year. That should be oodles of fun considering I spend 60% of my time in and around music.

~Amrita

Pick your cause this Christmas

Why not invest in a charity or work for a cause instead of buying yet another sweater which you probably wont wear a couple of months down the road?

So,pick your cause and make a difference...even if it's only 5$

Here are a few:
-Music Rising: http://www.grammy.com/musicares/musicrising
-UNICEF: http://www.unicef.org/
-World Vision: Sponsor a Child

ONE
-Amrita

flickr....

...i've gone Pro at Flickr...so lots of sets now...yay!

yeah...i lead an exciting life.

Widget Heaven!

http://www.konfabulator.com/

It f-ing rocks!

Ta Da!

dheem dheem tana na...

Russell Peters is hilarious. Period.
Saw another show of his last night...it was fan-fucking-tastic!! Lauged till I had tears in my eyes...check it out here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5659732569004317671

Ali coming tonight :) Niv tomorrow!! :) Wish CK was coming too.. :( Does anyone have the beam gun from Star Trek? :P The party will be incomplete without him....but we'll keep calling him so he has no escape... :D

Hmm...still got a pile of work left....but made some excellent progress yesterday...whew! Alrite...off with me to meetings and more....

take care...peace out!

Song of the day: 'O hum dum suniyo re' from Saathiya OST

KISS...

Keep it simple stupid....

...the logic for all Comp Sci problems apparently....

This and That

So lots of things to report from this weekend...

First of all (no ordering here....:P)...4 days to go for Harry Potter GOF!!!!!!

Then.....4 days till Ali and Niv get here!!!!!! Lois gets here in 5 days...and XK in 6 days!! ....AND....U2 in 7 days....WOW!! :)

Ok, on to other things...Had dinner with Bhai tonight. We discussed this and that...but most interestingly we talked about the kind of guys i would be interested in. Simple....smart, intelligent, must like (preferably love) music, also dancing, adventure, travelling, hiking....must love me...etc... Not too much to ask is it? ;)

Microsoft College Puzzle Challenge was on Saturday...we had 12 hours to solve 21 puzzles and one Meta puzzle. My team got 7 right...and we were a heartbeat away from solving 4 more. The puzzles were really hard!!! But we had a ball doing them.....my nemesis was "Elementary, my dear Watson". Here you had to solve a Griddler (black and red) to get a shape...which oddly enough looked like a Chemistry Periodic table. ha! So you take the red elements in order to get: LiONeSiPCaGaYInTeDyErW!!!!!!!!!!! WTF ?? So after a LOT of brain racking...finally solved it: ...."Negate Y In Silica Powdyer"...so the result is "Silica Powder"...Ha! :P :) There were other interesting ones....but i dont have the energy to detail them here....

Hmmm.....sad news also...but I dont want to discuss it here...Sending healing vibes to my friend though.

Peace!
-Amrita

AJAX rocks!!

From Wiki: "Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, or Ajax, is a web development technique for creating interactive web applications. The biggest advantage of using Ajax technologies is that data can be manipulated without having to render the entire page again in the web browser. This allows web applications to respond more quickly to many types of user interaction and to avoid repeatedly sending unchanged information across the network.

Traditional web applications essentially submit forms, completed by a user, to a web server. The web server responds by sending a new web page back. Because the server must submit a new page each time, applications run more slowly and awkwardly than their native counterparts.

Ajax applications, on the other hand, can send requests to the web server to retrieve only the data that is needed, usually using SOAP or some other XML-based web services dialect. On the client, JavaScript processes the web server response. The result is a more responsive interface, since the amount of data interchanged between the web browser and web server is vastly reduced. Web server processing time is also saved, since much of it is done on the client."

:-D I'm a happy person today cos of Ajax....solved a major design issue for me. Really clever technology. I would go on about it more, but it's already detailed above! :-P

~Amrita

Bear Mountain hike

Saturday, 5th Nov 2005: Went to Bear Mountain (upstate NY) for a hike with a group of about 20 people...knew some of them. It was great!! :) Did a 6 mile loop starting from Base camp, all the way up to the summit of Bear Mountain and back down. Saw beautiful fall colors and discovered a hidden waterfall. Also hiked along the Appalachian for a couple of miles. ...this was actually quite funny. The Appalachian trail went by the highway for a bit and we were walking in a one foot wide pavement with cars zooming up and down from the summit and also a sheer drop on the other side. ha! The wide range of colors made every mile worth it. This hike was a bit different from the other ones i've been on...more rocky paths mainly. So our pace was very slow. The paths were blanketed in leaves and in some places that made it dangerous as well.

Anyway, it was great to get away from the concrete jungles and breathe fresh air....

The Gypsy in me...

Love The Gypsy Kings...Recently started listening to them...really happy music! :) Happy makes me think...I've always been on the hippy side. A friend of mine once told me...that i'm too hippy to be an engineer. He was like.."look at ur hair...look at ur clothes and bags"...and he's true...i am very hippy in my garb and attitude. (but i am still a bonafide engineer :P) My hair is usually all over the place...and lots at that! My clothes have something Indian about them....so prints/colors/embroidery...etc. And bags...ahh...i have a collection of bags from India...all vibrant and detailed with embroidery or sequins....so...definitely very hippy. (not hip maybe...but who cares?) Anyway, I digress....gypsy kings is definitely my kind of music...all happy and dancy...(if that's a word).

Posting from Swissotel...grinning like a cheshire cat ....nice room...i have my own desk...and I get to sit around in a dressing robe looking all important... :P But here's a thought...why dont hotel rooms automatically provide toothpaste??? what gives?

Artist of the day: The Gypsy Kings

Things to do for blog: Review of Zakir show from 28th Oct, Report of weekend hike!!

Haircuts: 1 (yay! I feel younger!)

10 days to go for Freakshow!!! ahhhhh :D :D

_ME_

Oye! Chuk de phatte!

it has become a favorite yahoo audible...hehehe.

...a lot of Rock loving folk think it's absurd (or borderline insane) that I love hip-hop and pop. What can I say? I just love music in general. But I also looooove dancing...it's my favorite thing to do...period! I love Carnatic classical ..it's my absolute favorite form of music. Then comes Rock (classic, new ...whatever)...then fusion music...hindi, international...whichever. then the rest like hip-hop, pop...etc. I think the only genre of music that I dont have patience for is country...I like a couple of songs...but most of them irritate me cos to me they sound like commercials....not meant to offend anyone. There are great and talented country musicians out there....

hmm..in other news...Went to this restaurant called Devi last night with bhai and some friends. Good food...but not good portions. hehe. Loved the lanterns there...very very artsy and bright. Also visited Flute again after a long time...my very first bar visit in NYC was Flute...:) Love the place..

Anyway, on that note...ITS FRIDAY!!!! :) Trek tomorrow...mountain air at last! besides that....still buried with work. Back to it...

Song of the day: 'Gold Digger' by Kanye West and Jamie Foxx

Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath

Yes yes, it's definitely time for some good old Sabbath.... :)

With about 3 hours of sleep in me...and none to look forward to for another 16 hours at least.....I really NEEED Ozzy to shout "All aboard" at me....or..."I am Iron Man"...hehe. Another song I'd like to hear right now is "Fear of the dark" by Iron Maiden.

Yup, school's funnnn....who needs to sleep eh? Back to cutting edge research that'll cost me my back and sanity.....

HAPPY DIWALI!!

Here's to a brand new year ahead :) Wishing everyone good health above all things....and prosperity.

I miss India a lot at this time of the year...and my parents of course. I have to go get ready for school now...need to figure something new to wear. But for, I leave you with these pictures: -

Blogger didnt want to upload anymore...sorry...

but Happy Diwali!! :D :D :D :D