This is how it is . . .

New Place on the Web

2008-05-26T19:14:00.001+05:30

Now I have found a new place here - Nishant Modak.com

Though Nishant Modak.com would sound more of a commercial site. Its being used just as a reference to how everything today is a .. well dot com. Including people for that matter!

Well, I will may be then update it to .. Nishant (dot) Modak or Modak (dot) Nishant... for a better OO design! ;) :P

Whatever and however bad I write.. I plan to update here frequently !

Happy Blogging / Reading ..

Technology, my friend & Indian Rail

2008-02-26T14:15:00.001+05:30

Technology : the application of scientific advances to benefit humanity [Ref: fi.edu/franklin/glossary.html]

My Friend : A very dear friend of mine, let's call him WXY. He is an engineer and works in the much touted IT/ITES sector.

Indian Rail : Indian Railways has a total state monopoly on India's rail transport. It is one of the largest and busiest rail networks in the world. Almost 85 per cent of the railways available today were laid before independence.

So, how do they all come together?

Well, WXY had a real bad day - due to a mishap to his family member and wanted to leave for his hometown at the very moment. He was looking for a TATKAL ticket to go to his hometown.

The Indian Rail website, provides facility to book tickets online. But our dear Indian Rail, takes care that the person booking the ticket, is not devoid of the queue experience that he has to face when booking at the railway station booking counters.

So, a person working in the latest of technologies at an international firm, was at the receiving end of the online queue experience and could not get a ticket. Fate cannot be transgressed. So, what was it?

Fate? Technology at its best? Indian Rail at its best?

As I write about the Indian Rail website experience here, Lalu Prasad Yadav, the railway minister has just presented a Railway budget for this financial year. Link: MoneyControl : Railway Budget : 26-02-2008.

Of the 25000 crore surplus the Indian Railway has, I appeal to atleast spend 2% of it, on upgrading the IT infrastructure and especially the www.irctc.co.in website!

Technorati tags: railways, indian railway, technology, fate

Trip to Diveagar & Harihareshwar

2007-12-26T17:23:00.001+05:30

Best TRIP I have been to.

Looking back at these pictures, makes me live that moment over and again.

I hope you enjoy watching them.

Right Brained - Did not expect !

2007-10-08T11:28:00.001+05:30

You Are 30% Left Brained, 70% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

This is how it is . . .: Happiness is the way!#links

2007-09-28T18:03:00.000+05:30

This is how it is . . .: Happiness is the way!#links
http://anni312313.wordpress.com/2007/09/23/look-around/

Happiness is the way!

2007-09-13T18:43:00.001+05:30

5 Billion people in this world! I can surely be partial (good, loving, caring, understanding, acceptable, patient) to 9 of them no matter what!

Amen!

There is no way to Happiness, Happiness is the way!

Note: 9 :- bcoz , I have learnt, there are 9 people in this world, who qualify to be VERY-PRECIOUS for me.

They are : M, D, N, Aa, A, A's D, A's M, A's A, Chi.

These 9 people would be treated happily NO MATTER WHAT the conditions are. They would always be given respect, care, love, happiness in every possible way!

SRJYJJR.

From ' Tonic for Hindu Mind '

2007-08-08T20:02:00.001+05:30

As the different streams have their sources in different places

all mingle their water in the sea

So, O Lord the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear crooked or straight all lead to thee

- Swami Vivekananda. From "Tonic for Hindu Mind"

Book : Great Speeches of Modern India

Technorati tags: India, Hindu, Swami Vivekanada, quotes, tonic, mind, spirituality

Indika

2007-08-04T13:50:00.001+05:30

(Most of the content here in this post is taken from wikipedia articles)

Indika is a book written by Megasthenes who was a Greek traveler and geographer. He visited India during the 3rd century BCE.

The available copy of Indika is incomplete and only fragments of the entire work are available.
Surviving text of Indika

Megasthenes entered India through the district of the Pentapotamia of the rivers of which he gave full account, and proceeded from there to the royal road to Patliputra.

Indika also have references to the caste system in India.!

I am still searching for what actually Indika means ?

Any clues ?

Technorati tags: India, Indika, Megasthenes, History, History of India, help

LiveJournal tags: India, Indika, Megasthenes, History of India

Raising money

2007-07-16T12:31:00.001+05:30

Life Quote

2007-06-13T15:27:00.001+05:30

Life is not mathematics

-Nishant Modak.

Technorati tags: life, mathematics, maths, quote

Bird

2007-06-04T14:11:00.001+05:30

Bird
Originally uploaded by Njali Nishant

Technology in India

2007-05-18T18:27:00.001+05:30

An interesting article .

I don't feel they represent real stories, but surely one cannot deny them bcoz that is certainly possible in India.

It remembers me of the song from one of the Govinda films..

It happens only in India . . .

Technorati tags: India, technology, news

Moon View

2007-05-08T10:30:00.001+05:30

Moon view from behind the trees. Shot with S3 IS Cannon @ Pune on May 5,2007 @ Camp Area near ' George Restaurant'. /p>

What do you feel on seeing this picture ?

I would love to know that..

Technorati tags: moon, night, pune

Can Elephant's fly ?

2007-04-10T19:47:00.001+05:30

People who have read 'Who Say's Elephant's Can't Dance' will probably understand better.

Here is a good article from ' Financial Express', which explains the growth story of IBM in India.

Quite aptly titled as ' Hungry Tiger, dancing elephant', the article dwells into the details of how IBM and India are very much interconnected in terms of their growth.

It was good to notice Tiger being used for India. Earlier I could only see people using DRAGON a lot !

Well India is changing not only IBM's world but the WORLD's world ?

And for better, that is for sure.

What say ? Please let me know...

Technorati tags: IBM, competition, world, information technology, IT

EQ

2007-04-06T14:26:00.001+05:30

My EQ is 133

50 or less: Thanks for answering honestly. Now get yourself a shrink, quick!
51-70: When it comes to understanding human emotions, you'd have better luck understanding Chinese.
71-90: You've got more emotional intelligence than the average frat boy. Barely.
91-110: You're average. It's easy to predict how you'll react to things. But anyone could have guessed that.
111-130: You usually have it going on emotionally, but roadblocks tend to land you on your butt.
131-150: You are remarkable when it comes to relating with others. Only the biggest losers get under your skin.
150+: Two possibilities - you've either out "Dr. Phil-ed" Dr. Phil... or you're a dirty liar.

What's Your EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient)?

Technorati tags: EQ, quiz, quotient

Saturday !

2007-03-10T15:18:00.000+05:30

Got up in the morning around 7 !
Yes, saturday and even then ! Our team had planned to play cricket ( sounds boring ?), its fun though when you have players like us..
played for 1 hour .. that was incredible.. having played after a long time, everyone was well aware that their weekend's were gonna be full of body ache.
However, we played for one hour, and my team comprising of Prakash ( guru ) , abhas ( Tipuna ) won the match agains satyendu ( satya ), kejal ( dada ) and shesha ( reddy's hotel ? ;-) )
It was fun to play after a long time on a field.
we then later went to a place in kalyani nagar to have breakfast..
Then back home to take shower and then lunch @ Kalyani Veg.
Then back to work ! ( saturday and still work ! yes yes.. )
Then have planned for shopping .. need something good for monday.. you'll know why.
then have to meet the devil of friends' Firke.
Happy weekend to the world !
Hilary Duff again."I put my makeup on a saturday night
I try and make it happen
Try to make it all right
I know I make mistakes
I'm living life day to day
It's never really easy but it's ok"
Have a Good Time blogger..

There's people talking . . .

2007-03-10T14:13:00.000+05:30

Heard a song by Hilary Duff called "wake up .. ".

lyrics - Hilary Duff Lyrics

'There's people talking - we all know

They talk about me - usually ?

They know my name - hmmm

They think they know everything - if people read a person's profile at orkut, they seem to feel that they know everything ! ! Grow up ppl.

But they don't know anything - sure enough
About me' - yeah ..

Nice song Hilary !

Technorati Tags : Hilary Duff , music , lyrics

I am This GOD

2007-03-02T15:16:00.001+05:30

Borrowed from the microsoft site
"Congratulations!!! You are a proud member of the Norse Pantheon. Siding with the Norse puts you in the realm of the honor-bound, valiant warrior gods who are only strengthened by adversity. Never say die! Too much vision can lead to depression, but even though you and your fellow gods know your world is eventually doomed, your goal is to build your empires, fight your enemies and party with the greatest gusto you can muster up until the twilight of the gods. Your stunning Norse landscape of icy mountains and fjords, mysterious forests and rushing rivers will inspire you to great deeds of heroism.
A sneaky trickster, Loki is always feeling slighted by the other gods and determined to take revenge. Identifying with Loki can mean you have a good feel for the strengths and weaknesses of a situation or a system and intuitively know how to turn things to your own advantage. Your Loki power of persuasiveness and dis-information (deceit) contributes to success in psychological warfare, gaining unexpected allies, and unifying rabble and rogues to your cause. Beware of being tricked yourself.
God Power: Spy: Target on an enemy unit to secretly see what he sees.
TRY AGAIN
To learn more about your god-like tendencies and put your powers to work, play Age of Mythology!"

Technorati tags: GOD, MICROSOFT, mythology, loki, power, deceit

Age of Mythology

2007-03-02T15:04:00.001+05:30

Having played this game, I became interested in knowing about the GOD's !

Greek Gods.

As of now, I am mesmerized by the Greek mythology.

Having read about the Greek bhagwan, and the way the game has been created, I can just clap in acknowledgement.

(This (AOM) game is not new.Just that I played it after I was a bit saturated from playing the GREAT game of all times.. AOE. NO arguments regarding that. )

This pic borrowed from mythweb portrays the god's in great style.

Interested people can have a look at the site, which I feel is a very good source to know about the Greek Mythology.

And do take this quiz.

Technorati tags: games, game, aom, mythology, greek, gods, god, quiz

Second Life

2007-02-23T13:54:00.001+05:30

I was born in my Second Life, sometime in the last month ..

What a journey it has been, simply exploring !

IBM has come up with an online virtual gaming scenario called a second life. After the Internet Boom , everybody felt that INTERNET was at its peak, and that all the euphoria surrounding it would subside hereon. But that was not to be with Web 2.0

Here IBM has come up with what could be the next level of Internet, 3-D Internet.

I come alive in my second life only on weekends, to visit places that are VIRTUAL, to meet people who have their avatar's, to be at a non polluted beach, to fly high in the sky ( literally ), and all.

I had played a game called PlayBoy , which had similar avatar's and the interaction was a lot of fun. I feel *this* innovative concept to be borrowed from them, just that this SECOND thing ( in all aspects ;-) of innovation and life ! ) is online.

Technorati tags: SECOND LIFE, IBM, gaming, games, virtual, internet

Love of Precision

2007-01-31T17:18:00.001+05:30

Precision :

Highly respected quality ?

Rare ingredient ?

The questions in this respect also seem to be very imprecise .

"A human being is (/should be) a student all through his life."

Googling this term for some inputs did not help me. Try out Precision

Looking at the first result by wikipedia links us to Accuracy & Precision ! and things like High Accuracy but low precision and vice-versa, making the matters more worse. Guys, I am trying to understand precision with accuracy !

I am going off track and not at all being precise with this post.

I always "try" to be precise, but do end up where I don't wish to be, because may be I wished imprecisely !

"Practice makes a man perfect."

Can one ever be a perfect human being ?

A linguistic field study

2007-01-29T17:29:00.000+05:30

A linguistic field study of students at IIT M

Social Networking

2007-01-25T12:56:00.000+05:30

It's everywhere - - Web 2.0
Kathy Sierra's comments . .
And. . how can one forget the Second Life ! here
Some new tools Plazer !

A very good blog Andy Piper

An interesting site TechnoratI
My blog stats @ technorati

A Common GOAL

2006-12-02T21:46:00.000+05:30

Looking back to this year i see some questions like,
What was your new year resolution ? & Were you able to achieve that ? blah blah..
Do you even remember you had a new year resolution, which you had decided upon and forgot the very next day of the year..

If nothing of these, then you sure are a person who will achieve Greatness!

Last week i had been to Amchi Mumbai. While i was on a visit to this amazing city, i saw people
( horde of people ) moving at quite a brisk rate from one place to another.
I could not see, even an iota of them lingering around, which made me think about the way WE Humans are going about things.
Everybody ( a human being ) has a common goal, maybe a short term or otherwise, may be the one he has decided or otherwise, but he sure has one.

What about Human Beings as one ? what about Earth ?
WE never ever seem to have a COMMON GOAL for ALL OF US .
We DO have GOALS :
1. at individual levels
2. at group levels ( company / firm )
3. at family levels
and so on..

WHAT ABOUT COMMON OBJECTIVEs for MANKIND ?
Where are we heading ? Do we have a focussed objectives for development of technology / environment ?
Even if we do have. During everyday work what we tend to see is short term and not the wider picture that we all are a part of .

Is a person REALLY great ?

2006-10-28T17:05:00.001+05:30

"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them."
- Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Does a person become great because he is destined to be ? Does a person's ability make him reach his greatness ?
OR
Is it the events in his/her life that make him so ?

I have more or less been seeing people achieving greatness because the events made them so, the surroundings in which they grew up were conducive for becoming so.

Recently, i read Biography of Indira Gandi by Pupul Jaykar, and am reading General Mckinshaw's autobiography.
What is it that makes a great person / an icon ?
As in cricket they say, the timing needs to be perfect to hit the ball !

Is it all the timing and the up bringing of the person that matters ?

All that matters is " Being at the right place at the right time !"

Engineering - Is It really so ?

2006-07-17T23:45:00.000+05:30

huh !

So finally after giving the final semester exams for my Bachelor of Engineering Degree
i was forced to give a serious thought of my being QUALIFIED as an ENGINEER.

SCOTT ADAMS in The Dilbert Principle ( Collins )
" Normal people believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet. "

How true (?)
Quite true.. atleast giving the excuse that, its not complete yet is quite easy then..

I Still Dream of Jeanie

2006-07-16T19:28:00.000+05:30

I remember watching "I Dream of Jeanie" on Sony Television, India many years back..
It was and surely will be one of the best TV Serials to be aired ever on an Indian Television.

Here are links for downloading IDOJ - Best TV Serial Ever

First Part
Second
Third
Fourth
Fifth
Sixth
Seventh
Eighth
Nineth
Tenth
Eleventh
Twelveth
Thirteenth
Fourteenth
Fifteenth
Sixteenth
Seventeenth
Eighteenth
Nineteenth
Twenty
Twenty One
Twenty Two
Twenty Three
Twenty Four
Twenty Five
Twenty Six
Twenty Seven
Twenty Eight
Twenty Nine
Thirty

Password:xsharex.info
If required.

These links obtained with from : Thanks

THINK

2006-05-09T00:23:00.000+05:30

"Really great people make you feel that you, too, can become great."

- Mark Twain

Link

Red Hat ! !

2006-04-28T03:08:00.000+05:30

http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/article.jsp?article_id=72757&cat_id=580

Red Hat and IIT Mumbai have announced that they will be working together to support and spread open source programming skills among engineering colleges, MCA programs, and other institutions.

Through the Red Hat Scholarships Program and the new collaborative learning program, the duo intend to open-up newer avenues for Indian students to acquire the open source experience.

The Red Hat Scholarships Program 2006-07 will operate under the aegis of the eKALAVYA program set-up by the Kanwal Rekhi School of IT, IIT Mumbai. In its third year of operation, the Red Hat Scholarships program is designed to prove handy to students looking for guidance on software development projects that form part of their annual submissions.

The collaborative program set up by the two organizations is geared to allow students to sign-up online for open source projects, seek advice from mentors in the open source community, find projects they can participate in, download open source software and get information on programming standards and guidelines. The collaborative program generally aims at equipping engineering students with the necessary open source skills.

Prizes worth Rs 20 lakhs will be awarded to students and mentors participating in the program. In addition, special recognition awards including best participation from a women's team, best participation from a rural college, etc, have been instituted. The college bagging the largest number of project submissions will receive a Red Hat Academic Bundle.

Javed Tapia, president, Red Hat Indian Subcontinent, said, "The National Knowledge Commission, a premiere body constituted by the Prime Minister that advises on how India can promote excellence in the education system, has recently recommended that India must use open source software in education to meet the knowledge challenges of the 21st century. Open source will play a huge part in building India's IT infrastructure, and we have to ensure that the next generation is ready for this. The Red Hat Scholarship program's primary objective is to ensure that Indian students are familiar
with the open source philosophy, development model and software tools. We are happy to work with IIT Mumbai in this initiative."

Prof D B Phatak and Subharao M Nilekani, chair professor and head - KreSIT, IIT Mumbai, said, "Today, in several parts of India, students and teachers often struggle to keep pace with the latest developments in technology. Though talented, they lack resources, experience and exposure, and competent guidance. We are thrilled to team with Red Hat, and ensure that Indian students are exposed to open source technology."

Visit http://www.in.redhat.com/community/rhscholarship.php
for additional information.

Howard Roark

2006-04-23T01:04:00.000+05:30

From the Fountain Head,
From this simplest necessity to the highest religious abstraction,
from the wheel to the skycraper, everything we are and everything we have
comes from a single attribute of man - the function of his reasoning mind.

The Final Year Project ! !

2006-04-21T21:40:00.000+05:30

Huh ! !

Was such an EXPERIENCE working on the Final Year Bachelor of Engineering Project !
We, i.e
Chinmay A Limaye - THE person ( people who know him very well know that there in no word to describe this person )
Niranjan Hasabnis - Again another THE i guess :-)
Nikhil Firke - NO WORDS ! !
and myself worked at Persistent Systems Private Ltd. on Feature Enhancement of Asterisk PBX, and did some intresting ( meaning : Whatever , but not really the expected meaning ) work on IP based Private Branch Exchange..
i wont go into the technical details ( was there anything that we did technically ??? -- better ask my partners because i do not think we did any ! )
ok ok.. so the journey began way back in January 2005... all set to form groups for the final year ! first i was gonna do project with Adish - Mwanko Mbuki
Saket - Jester
Amar - Infinity ! ( sister of Trinity ../ He is a guy )
but then things turn out that we get selected for interviews at GS labs.. but unfortunately do not clear it...
i get selected for Persistent .. and then we 4 do the so called project !
Meanwhile we did get selected at different places for interviews like Codito, Concepts... but then we decided to work at PSPL..
What an experience it was ! ???
After the event Impetus & Concepts we do regret to an extent for working at PSPL.
Not that we did not get recognition for the project.. but the overall experience was not as rewarding as it was for our fellowmates...
we ( Nikhil , me and Nirya ) did try for projects on N/W and O.S. related stuff.. but ... Neway...
We would have very well liked to be getting some offers from SMALL companies.. Remember we did get recognition... but not the way we wanted ...
We learned a LOT in terms of working on a project and some issues of dealing with THE MAN ( Chinmay ) but . .. at the back of mind there still is that unsatsfied self .
( i do plan to put my words together and then write about THE MAN soon.... )

Hope i continue it from here..

2006-04-21T21:36:00.000+05:30

always i try to continue posting on this regularly but some how i cannot ! !

too lazy... i guess.. or not too committed to writing...
anyway.. i think i will certainly try to be more regular on this stuff !

Cheers !!

The Common Man-

2005-12-21T02:30:00.000+05:30

Saw an intresting movie "DOMBIVALI FAST"

Director: Nishikant Kamat
Language: Marathi.

A story of a common man who loses his sanity in the everyday rut of life.
The story of Madhav Apte, the film's protagonist who travels by the Dombivli fast everyday, is a tale which a common man can easily identify with.
An honest middle-class banker, Apte, disgusted with the system, loses his sanity and takes it upon himself to set things right, resorting to violent ways, thereby causing tension and strife to his wife and kids.
Great acting skills being portrayed again by none other than Sandeep Kulkarni (Dr.Sane in Shwaas) and all the other co-actors.
A hard but true view of the way the common man lives his life ..
watch the movie and you can understand it better..
Though the hero ( common-man ) in the film, is forced to take action against the system in a voilent way, ultimately to be remembered only in the police records..
is there no way that one can change the ongoing things..?

yes yes yes.. individuals need to change themselves ..

Let's begin..

atleast give it a try once..

My First One !

2005-10-22T03:10:00.001+05:30

So here comes that thing..
All said and done..
let me begin and set the ball in motion .. !
and see where this journey takes me..

Welcome to my small place on the Big Web !

2005-07-14T11:46:00.000+05:30

Welcome ! !

Nishant's World

2005-07-14T11:34:00.000+05:30

Procrastination has its good side. You always have something to do tomorrow.

If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies. -Albert Einstein

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. -Judy Garland