My 2015 in Words

Hello everybody,
This is my last post in 2015. This year has been full of changes for me. That's why I decided to put down words that defined my year. I made a word cloud out of it and here it is!

I wish you a wonderful and prosperous new year 2016! I hope we all achieve our dreams and become better people this coming year!
See ya soon! :D

Christmas collab with Adorkable Darling

Hello everybody!
I hope you are having an awesome Christmas and are enjoying your holidays. This is the first collab post on my blog and Adorkable Darling from 'the wonderful (yet ordinary) life of me!' helped me with this. If you haven't checked he blog out, do so! Its wonderful! For this collab, I asked her a bunch of Christmas related questions. Here are her answers:


1) What to you is the best part about Christmas?
The best part is being with my whole family on Christmas eve. Everyone exchanges gifts , and I make music with my brother. We play a gift exchange game and let me say it can get pretty crazy. I'm from a Mexican-american family , so of course there is a lot of FOOD (another one of the best parts);Pozole , tacos , rice , tamales , and of course something sweet after dinner. It's always a good time.

2) Your favorite Christmas related activity and why you love doing it.
I love singing ( and playing on my piano) Christmas songs. I love making music in general but Christmas music is just so much more joyful.

3) Did you believe in Santa as a kid? If yes, how and when did you realize that he wasn't real?
Yes I did believe in Santa as a kid. I even thought that I had heard him on the roof one year, haha. I found out he wasn't real when I was 13. I was in Choir class and my class mates were talking about how they found out that Santa isn't real. I was a little in denial first but then I saw a video in history class that talked about when the classic image for Santa was created. Of course I didn't really tell my parents that I knew but they probably figured it out as i got older.

4) Your dream Christmas tree.
My dream tree would be decorated with blue and silver ornaments. I would have little white flowers scattered on the tree skirt and topped with a glittery angel. Also little white lights would look great hung on it.

She asked me a bunch of questions and here is what I replied to her. Do check it out!!

Do leave a comment with your answers for these questions! I'd love to read them!

Merry Christmas again!

Until next time,

Bye! :D

What if I was born as a boy?

Hello everybody,
I hope you're having/had a great day today! Stephanie Mayer recently announced that she will be releasing a new book titled Life and Death which will be a re-imagined version of twilight but with gender roles swapped. That should be interesting! I also watched a video of a girl putting on make up to look like a boy. She looked funny... but I could imagine her as a guy. This got me thinking... what would I have been like if I was born as a boy?! Crazy! I know, but here are a few things that I think would be different.

Looks
I look a lot like a girl (that sounds really weird); I mean, some females have slightly masculine faces and some feminine, I think my face is slightly feminine. Also, since I rarely wear any makeup or get my eyebrows plucked, it wasn't too hard to imagine how I would look. There are so many hairstyle apps available. Some months back I had tried one of these apps, and it had a few boy hairstyles too. With that on, I thought I could have passed off as a boy!! It was really weird; but funny!
I'm quite short; so if I was a boy (I hopefully would have been slightly taller than I am now), I would most probably be teased/bullied for being too short.

Even Emma Watson (who I think has the most feminine face) looks like a boy sometimes! :P

Source

Personality
This is really hard to imagine. I would like to think that my personality is based on who I am and not based on who I am expected to be; but I'm sure my environment, society etc has played a huge role in creating my personality. Also the fact that I have no brothers makes it harder for me to think what a guy would like and not like had he grown up in the same environment that I did. But trying to think about things that are really me and not qualities that I've developed because of the society, here's what I think I would be like:
I hate conflicts and try to avoid them whenever possible. I love things that can be explained logically and try to find a logical/scientific explanation for everything. I hate any form of sports and have no interest at all in watching any game. However, I do enjoy playing video games and am pretty good at a few. I love technology and hate it when I'm in a conversation where someone else knows more than me about some technology. I am quite modest and rarely show off. I hear guys usually brag about every little achievement. So, I think I would show off my skills/abilities a little more if I was a boy. I don't talk a lot and I think that would be something that wouldn't have changed. I am quite emotional with regard to some issues and people, but I don't always give into my feelings and take irrational decisions.
Overall, I think would be a soft spoken, sensitive, law abiding person with a few good friends. (That line could describe me even now! Maybe girls and guys are not too different after all.. but then again, I don't think such guys exist! :P)

Interests
I am a big fan of Disney; I watch a lot of teenage drama kinda shows. I don't think I would be into those if was a boy. Disney maybe; I have a friend (who is a boy) who loves all things Disney as much as I do! I like teenage drama shows because usually the main character is a girl (whom I can relate to); I can't think of any shows with a guy as the main character;  so I don't know what I'd like TV/movies wise. The most popular genre among guys is action; so, maybe I would like such movies. But, there is noting in those movies that an ordinary person can relate to! I don't know... maybe there is something relatable. The shows that I watch also don't have people like me in it... but I still enjoy watching them, Maybe its a guy thing and maybe I'd have understood it if I were a guy.
As I mentioned above, I love technology, gadgets etc and I think I would be even more interested in them as a guy.
I enjoy writing, but I rarely find guys interested in stuff like this. Yes there are a lot of male authors; but that's different. I don't think I would have had a blog if I was a boy. Maybe I would've just played video games in my free time.

Career path
This one is pretty easy. I'm 99% sure I'd still be pursuing the same career path. Being an 'IT guy' is slightly more common than being an 'IT girl'. So, I think career wise I would be in the very same place that I am in now.

Friends
I don't like talking to strangers, but I make friends easily. Although that sounds contradictory, its not! If I need to ask someone a question, a favour etc, I feel very uncomfortable. However, I don't have a problem introducing myself and befriending someone of my age who goes to my same school/college. So, I have a lot of people I know/ am "friends" with; but I have very few close/true friends. And most of my friends are girls. Even in the larger group of "friends" very few are guys. So swapping the case, I would have a large group of guys that I am friends with, a small group of very close friends and a few girls that I know fairly well.

Ah! Finally, I've reached the end of this very weird post. It was really hard and amusing trying to imagine myself as a guy. I don't think I (the girl me) like this... would be very impressed with me (the guy me). I'm glad I wasn't born as a boy! Anyway, have you ever imagined yourself as a boy/girl? Would you like yourself (your gender swapped self)? Do let me know in the comments!
Until next time,
Bye! :D 

#IAmNotAFruit!?

Hello everybody,
I hope you are having a great day today!
As I scrolled through my Facebook feed today, I came across this video where women were saying 'I am not a fruit'. It was a protest video against generalizing women's body types into categories based on fruits (apple, pear and banana). Here is a link to the video. I strongly believe that any kind of shaming is wrong and everyone is free to wear any kind of clothing that they fancy. That being said, I think it is trivial to protest against anything and everything that is said about the body. Magazines do say what flatters each body type and what doesn't; but that's just the view of one stylist/fashion guru (dunno the exact terminology; I rarely read such stuff). Its upto each individual whether they want to read about it, follow it, let it bother them etc. A lot of people like being told what to wear and what not to. And some others like deciding on their own. When there are people who want advise, and people who are willing to give it, I don't see why anyone else needs to get involved. It is hard for anyone to give advise without any form  of generalization especially when they're addressing such a large audience. For such convenience sake, if they categorize body types, I don't see any harm in it.
Ultimately, you decide what you choose to wear. When no one's calling you a fruit, I don't see why you need to say you're not one!
This is just my personal opinion. I don't intend to put down anyone; I just feel that was something trivial to protest against. Again, this is just my opinion. Do let me know about your opinions. I'm open to counter opinions too and would love to hear the other side too!  
Until next time,
Bye! :D

10 things I find strange about America

Hello everybody,
Its been a month since I landed in USA and I find a lot of things strange here. Some good, some bad; here is a list of top 10 things that I find weird about USA. (This one's going to be a long post!)

1) Everything comes in large sizes.
This is probably one of the most well known things about America; but I had to put this on the top of my list. Onions the size of cricket balls! Ridiculous! On the other hand, I saw some baby carrots at the store and they were TINY! I could never imagine carrots could be so tiny. They were really sweet too!
Last week, I saw something rustling behind a bush. It looked like a cat or a dog; but I've never seen strays here. So I was a little curious to see what it could be. A minute later I saw this huuge big squirrel. A squirrel the size of a cat! That can happen only in America!!
Ice cream packs are big; no... anything that is packed is in large quantities (most things; I've seen some really small sized packs too! But generally speaking they are big). The houses are big, the cars are big. It goes on.

2) People talk a lot.
Talking to strangers stresses me out and maybe this is the reason I find this weird. The first sentence anyone greets you with is 'Hey, how are you doing today?'. I'd prefer to answer it with just an 'I'm fine' (because that would end the conversation :P), but the preferred response is 'I'm good. How are you?'. Another question = more conversation. Moreover, I don't know you well enough to help you in anyway if you are not doing good. (But thankfully no one ever says anything other than 'I'm doing good too.'
Even at other places, waiting in queues, at stores etc, people will start a conversation even if you haven't been introduced to each other before. It is a good thing that people are friendly and approachable, but stressful for people who find it hard to interact with new people.

3) A lot of people use trucks or vehicles with a large open carrier compartment in the back.
I believe they are called 'pick up trucks'. (Please correct me if I'm wrong) A lot of people use these vehicles. I have no idea why anyone would need such vehicles on a day-to-day basis. I thought those vehicles were meant for transporting heavy goods. But I've seen a lot of common people use it as a mode of transportation and usually the carrier compartment is empty. Why buy such a big vehicle (and pay for extra fuel) for everyday use? I don't understand.

4) Washrooms are better lit than living rooms.
This was one thing me and a lot of my friends found strange. The living rooms, kitchen etc are quite dimly lit. However, washrooms have 4-10 bulbs and are really bright! Some of my friends, took off some bulbs from the washroom and plugged them in in the living room. Where I stay, the washroom has 8 bulbs and each time I switch on the light I feel guilty that I'm using that much of extra electricity.

5) Have classes for everything
If you want to learn something, you'll have a class for it. Recently I had been to a library and I saw a list of events that were lined up for this month. There were classes/sessions on such a wide range of topics! And it catered to all ages! Even at college, info sessions keep happening. Even if it is just a bunch of stuff that you can find on the internet, they'll have a class for it. (I think its wonderful!) You may be able to find it on your own; but if someone conducts a class and tells you the same thing, you'll have more faith in it as it has more authenticity.

6) You'll want to buy EVERYTHING! (Too much of consumerism)
There is a 'new and improved' version of everything you can imagine. And the variety available is endless! I recently visited a store that sells art and craft supplies; it was so pretty! Especially the aisles with the Christmas stuff... I wanted to buy everything in that aisle! I loove glitter and everything there was fully glittered up! I, a twenty-one year old (on a strict budget) found it hard to get through the store without buying unnecessary stuff; I could completely understand my 4-year old nieces' excitement (and eventual disappointment when she wasn't allowed to buy anything).

The amount of merchandise available for any movie/ character etc is too high! For example, a chapsitck with just a brand name on it won't interest kids; but if it has a picture of Elsa on it (especially if it has some glitter on it) they need it! The other day, I saw a pack of grapes with a frozen sticker on it! We just passed the aisle and my niece immediately shot back and picked it up and insisted that she needed the grapes! As soon as a new character catches the fancy of kids, they'll want everything new again!

7) No traffic and smooth roads
Ah! This is one thing that I've been loving ever since I got here. The city where I used to live was known for its traffic jams. I used to spend 4 hours on a an average each day in traffic, and this was what hit me the very minute I got here. The roads are wide and smooth. (I haven't seen a single pothole on any road!) And people follow rules so well! And pedestrians are given so much respect! I find it extremely funny when cars stop when I'm waiting to cross the road. Initially I wan't aware that people would actually stop if they saw someone standing on the pavement at intersections (in the college campus). A friend was amused by this too. The other day, she was standing on the pavement, thinking about which way to go, and then a car stopped. She never realized that the car stopped because she was standing there. A few seconds later when another car stopped and the person driving the car gestured for her to cross, she realized that they had stopped because she was standing there! She was totally embarrassed for having made two cars wait! I find it strange even now and avoid reaching junctions when I see a car approaching.

8) Everything is spreeaaad out
I'm sure this doesn't apply to ALL of America, but its true for quite a few parts of America that I've been to (I did visit quite a few states during my previous visit). You rarely have trouble finding a spot to park you vehicle, crowded stores etc. There are large empty spaces in front of houses, parks are huge... in general, everything is spread out. (Of course not everywhere!) I did see tall buildings, crowded places in the downtown parts of the city.

9) Everything is automated
Everything runs on electricity, has a mind of its own and is connected to the internet! I've heard that IoT (Internet of Things) is going to be the next big thing technology wise, but I'm actually seeing it in effect here. America is technologically advanced. That's a well-known fact. But the role technology plays in everyday life is something one must experience to understand.
I found digital toll booths very fancy! Where I lived, toll booths used to be a bottle neck for traffic, and here, one need not even stop to pay the toll! A machine scans a sticker on your windshield and the money is transferred from your account! How wonderful!
Many other little things like this are automated.

10) Bad healthcare
This is one major drawback I've noticed. America is well known for its medical advancement; however, the availability of basic healthcare is limited! Insurance plays such a big role here! Where I lived, there were plenty of good doctors available, and one could schedule an appointment for the same day or the next day easily. Here, wait times are so long, the person would probably have recovered before they meeting the doctor! Also, I find that doctors here tend to talk about the worst case scenario and scare patients. I know its better for patients to know about possible implications of their illness, but I think it isn't right to tell them about the worst case possibility before getting sufficient evidence that it could be it. I generally tend to avoid visiting doctors, so I'm not very sure about what I expect them to do, but this is what I feel from what I've heard about other peoples' experiences that I've heard about.

So these are the top ten things that I find strange about America. There are a few more things,like the freedom to dress as you like (Contrary to what is shown in movies, I think people are not very  judgmental about what you wear.) ; but these are the top ten according to me.
(P.S. These are my opinions based on the little part of America that I've seen so far. I may be completely wrong about some stuff, so, if you think I was wrong about generalizing something, please do let me know!)

Until next time,
Bye! :D

One more thing, I participated in a collab post on 'Party ideas' over at the wonderful (yet ordinary) life of me! (Here is the link to the post) Do take a look at it! It has some really cool ideas posted by fellow bloggers! :D

Voldemort key-value store

Hello everybody,

I just finished my last engineering exam yesterday! Woohoo! The last thing I would expect to read in a computer science text book was a heading that read 'Voldemort'. Apparently there is a database system called Voldemort that is used in LinkedIn. How cool is that? I love the series and thought I had to post it here.
People working on it would be saying things like "Voldemort is down for 10s", "My Voldemort just crashed", "Inserted 10 rows into Voldemort", "Updating Voldemort...", "New version of Voldemort available". I'm sure they wouldn't be saying such stuff. But I'm sure whatever they do, would be really cool!

 

Until next time,

Bye! :)

The day after an exam

Hello everybody,
I hope you're having a great day! As I mentioned in my previous post, I had an important exam yesterday. It went well and it feels like a huge burden was lifted off my shoulders. Before an exam, I feel exams are the worst things to happen to students and life would be much better without them. But actually, the joy you feel after finishing an exam is much more than when you don't have an exam. Any form of relaxation or enjoyment that you indulge in after an exam feels justified. Today, I woke up at about 9:30 am, switched on the TV and sat in front of it till about 4 pm! ( I did shower and have breakfast and lunch in between.) If I had done the same thing on any other random day, I would have felt really guilty. But since I had been working really hard for quite some time, I felt completely relaxed and happy wasting an entire day.
I think this is the reason we need goals and desires in life. We all love the sense of accomplishment that we feel after working towards a goal and achieving it. Living life as it comes is like the joy you feel when you have no exams. It is simple, uncomplicated and happy.
I think it is just a matter of choice. Both the options seem valid ways of living a happy contented life.
Woah! That turned philosophical very soon! I had a really nice day and wanted to do a post on how awesome it feels after an exam. What do you prefer? The day after an exam or a day when you don't have an exam approaching? Do let me know in the comments!
Until next time.
Bye! :D
P.S. I still haven't finished my exams. The next one is still about 5 days away so took a day off.

The donkey wedding

Hello everybody,
I'm so sorry I've been so irregular with my posts. I have a lot of things going on (project submissions, exams and stuff). Today morning, the news was on, and I heard this report about people in some town getting two donkeys married! There is a belief that getting two donkeys married brings rain. So, if rains are delayed, people perform this ceremony. It's a silly tradition, but it doesn't harm the donkeys in anyway so I don't mind it very much. However, today morning, it was for a different reason that they were performing the ceremony.
Some organization had cheated some people, and the government had supported that organization. The donkeys were supposed to symbolize the government and the fraudulent organization and the wedding was to show that they were working together. They were comparing the inefficient/fraudulent organizations to donkeys! It was such an insult to the donkeys! The sad part was, people thought that it was a completely logical way to protest! Donkeys are useless, was the assumption! I was infuriated with it. I hoped the donkey would kick those people (who were insulting it). But then realized, if at all it did such a thing, it would be beaten and chained!
This got me thinking about how we humans think that we are above all other creatures and punish them for not obeying our orders. Imagine a situation where one person was insulting another person and the other person was prohibited from even objecting to it! That's the situation of every creature on earth other than man. For no fault of theirs, the donkeys were being publicly insulted! I know, they would not have been able to understand that they were being insulted, but even the ceremony, the people, the garlands were all irritating the poor creatures. Why did they have to tolerate all that? Because, if they didn't, cruel humans would beat them up!
We humans perform innumerable such acts against animals. The severity behind this act wasn't much (the donkeys weren't harmed in any way), but it was wrong. The concept of attributing bad traits to an entire species is not right. Also, expecting them to behave well when crazy rituals are performed on them is unfair.
Do let me know about your thoughts on this topic in the comments.
Until next time,
Bye!

Movie Review: Cinderella

Hello everybody,
I hope you are having a great day. I finally got to watch Cinderella (last day last show) and I'm glad that I did. It is the perfect fairy tale told as it should be. I think I've watched every movie based on Cinderella and to watch one that sticks to the original is actually refreshing!



The movie sticks to the story that I've read as a kid. Lily James plays the part of Ella well; however, I think they've overdone the 'country girl' look a wee bit. Sophie McShera and Holliday Grainger play the role of the step sisters perfectly. Their arrogance and dim-wittedness is apparent from the first scene. Their overdone makeup and gaudy dresses do complete justice to their characters. Lady Tremaine, the evil step-mom is played by Cate Blanchett and is very convincing. Cinderella follows her mother's last words 'have courage and be kind' and never says a word against her step-mother who is super mean to her. There are a few instances in the movie where I felt like punching her in the face and Ella doesn't say a word! Once such instance is when she forbids her from having breakfast at the table. Ella drops and breaks her plate in frustration (in the kitchen of course!) but obeys her step mother. The evil lady also tears up Ella's mother's dress (which is beautiful by the way) just before leaving for the ball. The final punishment that Lady Tremaine and her daughters get for all that they do isn't justified I felt. The fairy godmother is played by Bonham Carter and I think can play any role perfectly. She first appears as an old woman. The makeup for that part has gone completely wrong. She looks very weird as the old lady. But that scene is about 30 seconds long, so it hardly matters. Once she turns into the fairy godmother, she looks a little silly (because of the huge dress and tiny wings) but like a typical fairy godmother. I thought Richard Madden wasn't the ideal choice to play the prince; but he's quite convincing and plays the part well.
Coming to the costumes, first let me talk about the dress. It is amazingly pretty. It is big, glittery and flows! The shoes, and by shoes I mean the shoes, the glass shoes, didn't quite live up to my expectations. With the amount of technology available now, they could have made it look a little more magical. The fairy godmother's wand keeps emitting a kind of glittery magic-y stuff; that should have been added to the shoes as well. If you notice most animated Disney movies have that around magical things. Her everyday clothes were nice, believable yet kind of what I would imagine Cinderella would wear.

Expectation

Reality

The computer effects used for the carriage scene are good and add a bit of humor to the movie. The mice half transformed into horses, Mr. Goose and the lizard footmen look quite funny. That was the only humorous scene in the movie; but of course the movie doesn't belong to that genre so no more of humor is expected than is already present.
Overall, I'd say I loved the movie. Would totally recommend it to you if you liked simple stories with happy endings or if you were into Disney princesses. Even if you were'nt into such movies, I would still recommend it to you because, really, what's not to like in Cinderella especially when its been made by Disney.
If you have watched the movie, do let me know your views in the comments.
Until next time,
Bye! :D

PS: This is the first time I've posted an actual review, I'm not sure if there are any rules to be followed. If there are, please do let me know!

The race to #AT2UI tickets

Hello everybody,
I hope you're having a great day! I had a crazy day today. As many of you may know, Lilly Singh aka Superwoman is going on a world tour (A Trip to Unicorn Island) AND she is coming to the city where I live! I love Lilly and I've been super excited  from the moment she announced the tour. Today the tickets were to go on sale at 1:45 pm. So me and my friend (who is as big a fan of Lilly as me) decided to buy the tickets as soon they opened if the cost was around 1000 rupees. However, we had presumed that the show would end at some earthly hour so that we could reach home before late.

Today morning the minute I reached work I checked the tour site just to see how many hours were left, and to my surprise, it said the tickets were open! Immediately I checked out the details and saw that almost all seats were still available. I tried calling my friend (who's interning at another company) but wasn't able to reach her. I kept tracking the seats and they were quite a lot of seats empty. However, the show was to start at 8 pm and the place is at least 2 hours away from where we live. I was a little concerned about this but my parents agreed to pick us up after the show. My friend's parents were a little concerned about the time and she took a while trying to convince them. I checked the tickets at 1 pm and there were about 20 seats left in 3 categories. I had a meeting at 2:30 pm and had to finish lunch and be back by then. So while my friend was convincing her mom, I went to have lunch (at around 1:30). At 2 pm my friend called me and told that her mom agreed and she was trying to book the ticket but the tickets were sold out! I had completely missed the fact that a lot of people would visit the site at 1:45 pm (the announced time for the tickets to go on sale). I rushed back to see the same message. We kept refreshing and retrying and once in 10 minutes or so a few seat would appear. We tried booking them but both of us had problems with the transaction. Finally I gave up at 2:29 as I had my meeting then. My friend kept trying with no luck. After my meeting, I tried again. The transaction was almost complete when there was a problem and my card got blocked!
After another half hour of cribbing I asked a senior friend in office and she agreed to pay for it with her card. She had some work to finish and finally when she came and I tried to buy a ticket, it displayed an official SOLD OUT message!!! Not a single ticket was available in ANY category.
That ended my race to buy a ticket for A Trip to Unicorn Island. An hour of blaring music, a movie and a blog post later I think I'm finally at the stage of being okay about it. I wasted an entire day at work, got my card blocked and ended up without tickets to the show. But, its ok... I've learnt from my mistakes. I should have bought the ticket in the morning when I had the chance. Waiting it out isn't the solution to every problem. Any #TeamSuper fans reading this post? Do let me know in the comments.
Until next time,
Bye! :D

The kind stranger on a crowded bus

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that for the past month I've been traveling a lot by public buses. I don't have a direct bus from my house to my workplace, so I have to take a bus to the central bus station and change buses there. As I leave during the rush hour, I rarely get a seat and end up standing in the bus the entire distance. It is a tiring journey and a little act of kindness in such situations can go a long way in making one's day better.

Yesterday, there was a huge jam at the Central Bus station. The entire bus station was blocked and none of the buses were moving.I had to wait for almost an hour to get a bus. Finally, when I got a bus, I was lucky enough to get a seat! I settled down, plugged in my earphones, chose a song that I like and turned up the volume. I really needed some music to relax my mind. Just then, two old women got onto the bus. All the other seats had been filled up and a few people were standing. The two ladies were really old and I had to give my seat to them. A little sad that I had to stand with my heavy bag, I stood up. One of them took the seat and thanked me. Just then, another lady who had been sitting in the seat behind me immediately offered to hold my bag! People do offer to hold other peoples' bags in crowded buses, but not very willingly. And that was not the end of her kindness.
A few stops later, one girl who had been sitting, stood up to get off the bus. I hadn't noticed it and the lady who was holding my bag quickly pointed towards the seat and told me to go and sit and said that she would pass my bag after I got the seat. There were people standing and I wouldn't have been able to get the seat if I had tried to make my way to the seat with my bag. The lady made sure that I got the seat before giving back my bag. If I hadn't got the seat, she would have had to sit for a longer while with my bag. The fact that she tried to help me even if it meant more discomfort for her, touched me. This may sound very trivial. But the fact that a total stranger cared for another stranger's comfort restored my faith in humanity. I know it sounds like I'm over-exaggerating; but the gratitude I felt towards the lady that day was real.
Have you experienced such random acts of kindness lately? Do let me know in the comments.
Until next time,
Bye! :) 

Cryptic Talk

Hello Everyone!
I'm so excited to publish this post. This is the post that I've been talking about for a while now.
Last semester we had a subject called Cryptography and Network Security. It involved use of a variety of ciphers to encrypt and decrypt text. It is a very interesting subject and I loved it. I thought I could use this knowledge to implement a simple cipher that people could use for fun.
This led me to develop 'Cryptic Text'. It is a very simple widget that I've designed and added to this blog. It implements a variation of the 'Pigpen Cipher'.

Using it is really simple. The Encrypt part takes a piece of text and returns the encrypted text. The Decrypt part takes the encrypted text and gives the decrypted text.

You can use this to share secret messages with your friends. Get the encrypted message, send it to your friend along with this link. Your friend can decrypt it and get back your message!

Sounds cool? Try it out now!

Do leave your opinion in the comments. If you have any issues, let me know and I'll try to fix them!
Bye :)

P.S I've added it as a page to my blog to make it easy to access.

Happy Valentine's Day

Hello Everyone,
I'm sorry I've been irregular with my posts. Since today is a Saturday, I finally had time to write a new post.
 I don't really believe in Valentine's day so this post is going to be very short. I'm not against celebrating Valentine's day... but I don't endorse it either. Ideally, if you really love someone, you don't need a special day just to show them that you care. But practically speaking, in today's busy life, we barely have time to talk to people we care about. I think by setting apart a day, we try to make time at least on that day to show our loved ones that we care.
I think it is important to take some time off in our busy schedules to re-evaluate our relationships and think about others in our lives who really matter to us. It is hard to do this on any random day. Having days like Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day etc, helps us do so, and we can make sure that we spend some quality time with loved ones at least a few times each year.
I don't know if this post made much sense. Do let me know what you think of celebrating Valentine's Day in the comments.

P.S. I have something very interesting planned for my next post which I hope to release on Tuesday (Feb 17th). Stay tuned! :D

Emma as Belle... dreams do come true!

Emma Watson has been chosen to play the role of Belle in Disney's live-action movie Beauty and the Beast. I'm sure you would have heard about it already; but thought I'd make it clear anyway. I was beyond thrilled when I heard about it. Emma, Belle and Disney in the same sentence... what could be more exciting than that?!

I actually got onto the Harry Potter bandwagon pretty late. By the time I started to obsess over Harry Potter, four books and the first movie had been released. I have to write another post wholly dedicated to my introduction to the world of Harry Potter and my obsession with it. After reading The Philosopher's Stone, I had become a complete fan of Hermione. Just after I finished reading it, I watched the movie and Emma looked every bit of what I had imagined Hermione to be. I instantly wanted to be the girl that played Hermione! I was obsessed about Emma Watson during that phase. I think I read every bit of information about her that was available on the internet. As much as I admired her, I had this crazy desire to BE her! I've had innumerable conversations with her in my mind... not just as a fan; but also a friend! I've gotten over my desire to BE her... but  to this day, I admire her immensely and have great respect for her. I think she is the prettiest actress and love the fact that she has always maintained her dignity. Also the fact that she pursued her education and became a graduate at Brown is truly commendable. 

Belle and Rapunzel are my favorite Disney princesses. I love Belle for her simplicity, love for books, independence and her ability to look beyond a person's looks. Her style is simple but her elegance adds beauty to her. Her ability to think independently and break stereotypes makes her character admirable. I think Emma personifies these very characteristics. She would be the best person to step into Belle's shoes. I think Taylor Lautner would fit the role of the Beast. I can imagine him with a mane and fangs. Who do you think would be ideal to play the Beast? Comment below!

The dog that wanted to become an engineer

There is a stray dog that lives on our college campus. He is a black and white dog (mostly black). Although a stray, his coat is always clean and shiny and he looks well-groomed. The most noticeable feature of this dog is his expression. He seems very wise and is somehow different from other dogs. A lot of people feel the same way. There were rumors that he was born the same year that our college founder died and that he too was very fond of him! Students, watchmen, maintenance staff etc have a soft corner for him and never shoo him away.
During our first year, our classroom was on the 3rd floor and there were multiple halls and corridors through which one would have to come through to reach our class. Also, dogs aren't allowed inside buildings. One day, this dog had come up to our class (on the 3rd floor) and had slept under a desk before students arrived! We were all surprised, but no one minded him as most people liked him and he was sleeping peacefully. He stayed there for the entire length of the class and just after the teacher left, he left! He stayed there just for that one class!
We had that particular class (Engineering Drawing) only once a week. Through the week he never came back. Interestingly, the next week he was there again! Sleeping under the same desk for the same class. We were all truly surprised to see him there again. He did the same thing... slept through the class and left at the end of it. This repeated five or six times during the semester (not consecutive weeks though). But only for that one class. The teacher was as surprised as we were and said that he had never fed him or spoken to him at any time. We never got to know why he used to come there and it never repeated. Maybe he was interested in learning Engineering Drawing!
I thought I'd take his picture for this post, but I haven't been able to find him in the last couple of weeks. I hope he's fine and has just decided to move away to another part of the campus. 

Why you should learn to code

In today's world, computers are our new weapons. Whatever may be your profession, being able to use a computer for some reason or the other has become essential. Since computers have become such an inseparable part of us, I think knowing a little bit about how they work and how they can be made to works as per our wishes, is a key skill that can be very helpful at times.
I will try and explain what fascinates me the most about computers. I've always hated large numerical calculations, especially ones involving decimals. I always try to round off/ estimate or find some way to convert decimals to integers because I find them easier to work with. Computers work on just two whole numbers. 0 and 1, high or low, yes or no, black or white. There is no gray region and I think that's the best part! Isn't it amazing that the computer performs such amazingly complex calculations using just 2 numbers? You can breakdown the most complicated problems into such basic structures that they come down to a yes or no question. A branch is taken or not... a part of code is executed or skipped.
Its that simple. 
A computer program is simple logic that is broken down into such basic units that the computer is able to understand and process it. So, if you like logic, you will love coding!
Today, there are umpteen programming languages that have been simplified to the extent, they don't even look like programs. For example, in Python (a programming language) the line

print "Hello World"

will print "Hello world" on your screen.
Easy!
Learning any programming language helps you understand the basic structure of a program. This helps you get a basic idea about how a page could be designed, what logic could have been used to make a website work etc. 

Also, knowing to code equips you to build new solutions. If you have an idea to solve a problem, being able to code can help you develop the solution without having to spend money, convincing people to fund it, work on it etc. But for you to be able to get those ideas, you need to have a basic idea about how to code. There are new tools to build apps, games websites etc, that require no experience or expertise in actual coding. Simple drag and drop features let you have all the functionality you desire without actually having to know how to write code for it. But again, to be able to come up with such solutions and to use these tools, it always helps to know any one coding language. It lets you have a basic idea how the tool could be working behind the scene and this helps you while designing your product. 

Coding is not just a skill. It is an art. Once you get through the syntax and start being able to understand the code, you will start to enjoy reading it! Once you start to understand the logic, you will see how beautiful codes can be. But, to be able to see the logic, you will have to learn the syntax and the basics of how to code in that language. For this reason, learn to code!

 “I think everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer because it teaches you how to think.” -Steve Jobs

A few links to get you started:

Tools:

• Scratch  - Helps you create games using drag drop programming. I had a lot of fun with it.
• Livecode  - Lets you build apps. You can use drag drop programming or write code based on your level of comfort.
• Alice - Lets you learn programming in a 3D environment.

Languages: 

• Python
• Perl

 Also, I suggest, you look at the tutorials on w3schools. They are simple and let you alter code and see results without having to download anything.

That's it. Happy coding! :D

What I learnt from Disney's Tangled

Tangled is one of my favorite Disney movies and I've watched it a million times. Here is a list of all the things that I've learnt from Tangled:

1) Always be on your guard if you decide to trust a stranger.

Rapunzel keeps her frying pan handy all the time and it does come to good use on multiple occasions.

2) It is okay to take risks and break rules once in a while. 

The minute Rapunzel gets out of the tower, she goes dizzy with fear and excitement. She took a huge risk, and it paid off! She went back to her real parents, she got rid of Mother Gothel AND got a 'happily ever after' with Flynn (or should I say Eugene? That's what she preferred).

3) Try to bring out the better side of people 

Even the meanest looking people can have a good side to them. (except Mother Gothel of course!)  

4) Make friends whenever you can... you never know who could help you in times of need!

Remember how quickly she befriended Maximus, and Maximus helped her through her journey. Also, the thugs at Snuggly Duckling... they were the ones who saved Flynn from being executed!!

5) Observe your surroundings

Rapunzel notices the painting in the city and remembers it. Although it doesn't strike her immediately, it helps her realize later that she is the lost princess. Be observant, you never know what could help later.

6) Things are not always as they seem.

Remember how heart-broken Rapunzel was when she saw Flynn row away in the boat? It was all Mother Gothel's trick! You can't even trust your eyes sometimes.

7) You don't need magical powers to have a wonderful life.

Rapunzel lived locked up in a tower with a witch because of her magical powers. After she lost her gift, she got her freedom, found her lost parents and started to live life on her own terms!

8) Enjoy the journey

Sometimes the journey is more fun than the destination!

9) Go out and see the world! It gives you a new perspective on things

Living cooped up within your own world prevents you from seeing the world from different perspectives. Go out... explore! Rapunzel was under the impression that the world is full of bad people and only her 'mother' was good. Only after she left her tower did she realize how wrong her impression was. 

So these are a few things I learnt from Tangled. Tell me if you have any to add! :)

2015's top 15!

Hello everybody,
I hope each one of you is having a fantastic new year. I thought I'd do a round - up of 15 most interesting things expected to happen in 2015.
Here is a list of the most interesting topics/ subjects/ events/ occurrences that are expected to be the buzz in 2015!
This list is based on what interests ME the most and may exclude events of greater significance. :P
   
     Astronomy:

1. NASA's Dawn spacecraft is expected to arrive at the  dwarf planet Ceres (which lies between Mars and Jupiter) in February 2015. The main aim of this mission is to find out the conditions and processes that took place during the formation of our Solar System.
2. NASA's New Horizon probe (launched in 2006) arrives at Pluto.
3. In September, we will witness the most visible Lunar Eclipse as it occurs on a Full Moon, a Supermoon and a Harvest Moon.

Tech:






Virtual reality
Internet of things- for all the non-geeks out there... Internet of things is the concept of connecting various devices/ applications to the internet to customize the the way they function based on individual preferences.
Big Data - the amount of data collected from various sources continues to explode and Big Data Analytics is expected to be the 'Most sought after skill' in 2015. 

Gadgets:







Microsoft releases Microsoft Lumia 2020 PureView -  Being a big fan of Lumia, this is what has me most  excited! :D
Samsung is expected to release a phone with a bendable screen!
Oculus Rift a Virtual Reality headset -  I'm not a gaming enthusiast, but this features on my list because of the amount of hype it has already created. :P

Movies:







Minions: A Prequel to Despicable Me - Despicable Me was wonderful, haven't been able to watch Despicable Me 2... but excited for this!
Disney's Cinderella -  I think I've watched every Cinderella based movie ever made, and now that Disney is making one, I'm obviously super excited for this!
A tie between Taken 3 and Mohenjo Daro (Bollywood) - After Taken and Taken 2, I have high expectations from Taken 3. Jodha Akbar was the last movie where Hrithik Roshan and Ashutosh Gowarikar worked together. Loved Jodha Akbar and hopefully this will be of the same level! (also it is being made in association with Disney!)(There is news that Mohenjo Daro will release in 2016. :( Will have to wait and watch)

Other:






One Direction' s 'On the Road Again' Tour,  '1989' - Taylor Swift's World Tour
Elvis Presley's 80th Birthday Celebration.
The First World Indigeneous Games in Brazil

So this is the list! If there are any others you are excited about, do let me know in the comments section.

Bye! :D

My Resolutions for 2015

2015 is going to be a year of change for me since I will be graduating from college this year. I'm unsure about what I will be doing this year (studying/ working etc. ). I may continue living where I currently am; or may move away to a new city. I'm not sure right now, so coming up with my new year's resolutions was a little difficult. But nevertheless I've come up with a few. Here they are:

1) Socialize more... talk to more people.
2) Plan my work and start off on assignments/ projects well in time. 
3) Update my blog regularly. (I will take a break when I have a lot of submissions etc. but will definitely get back once I'm done with them)
3) Eat healthy
4) Educate myself about the world of finance (I'm clueless right now :( )
5) Watch the news more often.
6) Do more social work. (I recently got to know about a voluntary organization that helps orphaned children. Hope to get associated with it and become an active volunteer)
7) Reduce the time I spend watching TV

These are all the resolutions I have for now. I hope to stick to them and I will make a conscious effort to monitor my progress. Wish me luck! :)

New year resolutions

I don't know what it is about new year. I feel like there is a general positivity in the atmosphere.  Maybe it is the thought of starting things afresh. New year gives you a chance to pause and review the past year. See how much you've progressed think about what you could have done better and decide what you would like to do the next year. Having a resolution is like setting goals and a year is a substantial period to set for achieving those goals. Goals adds purpose to life... they act as a driving force. I think the general desire for humans to improve and better themselves is what makes us want to make new year resolutions.
I have never really tried to keep up my resolutions until this year. This year I'm going to put in my best efforts to stick to them. I'm still working on my resolutions for 2015. Will post them here once I'm done.
Go on make up your resolutions. Let's try and become better humans this year! :D