FSUGTSR: A Window to Freedom

Its the time of the year when all that happens, is for good- Its December. And December fourth shall also be remembered by few of us for being the day of FSUGTSR renaissance.

FSUGTSR , i.e, Free Software User Group, Thrissur made its first(citation needed) contribution towards the common goal- A Free and Open Source Software Society, today with the one day event " A Window to Freedom". COSTFORD, CenSE, P G Center and I C Software were the sponsors of the event.The program was held at Sahitya Akademi Hall, Thrissur and was inaugurated by HOD of Computer Sciences and Engg. Dept., Govt. Engineering College, Thrissur, Prof. K.V ManojKumar. Mr. Jayan from COSTFORD, sponsor of the event, presided. K. Venu presented an in-detail description about Politics of free software. Krishnanunni, delivered the vote of thanks.

Audience was a mixed lot, people from different walks of life- students, office-goers, teachers and lot many more. Talks followed the Inaugural session. Hiran spoke on the philosophy behind Free and open Source Software. The session by Mahesh was all about the Gnu/Linux Operating systems. Hussain sir followed with a talk on Malayalam Computing.Aswin, my junior at college, took the session on Compiz fusion and desktop environments( check out his blog to view some interesting visual effects supported by Gnu/Linux). Suresh sir summed up before the break after providing an insight into Malayalam Input Methods.The post-lunch session was initiated by Alex Poovathingal and myself on Installation of Ubuntu 8.04 Ultimate edition.Jain introduced Commonly used GNU/Linux Tools, especially Firefox, GIMP, Stellarium and so on.
The tail was Unni's session on Troubleshooting.Day ended with an open discussion on future proceedings of FSUGTSR. Pramode Sir from I C Software, Renjith Sir from P G centre and others participated in it. The Crowd response was positive and supportive throughout the days' events.

The whole concept of "Free as in Freedom, not Free Beer" registered well in their minds as we were charging Rs.30 towards copies of Ubuntu 8.04, Debian Lenny and Fedora 10 :) . BOSS DVDs were being given free of cost.
Join our mailing list at discuss@lists.fsugtsr.org for being part of FSUGTSR and its future ventures.

The media coverage was excellent as evident from the 400+ crowd which had gathered. All leading news papers had reported prior to and after the event as well. Here's the link to The Hindu’s e-news bit on the event.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/05/stories/2008120550580200.htm

In toto, FSUGTSR has made an impression in the minds of public in Thrissur which needs to be kept up by the works that should(read as would) follow....

Lost Dreams...

The outcome was expected. He had to make his choice. Two paths. Alike and akin they lay, for the man in him to make the choice. End was never a question, for when the brave set forth, they live today as there is no tomorrow.

Shadows loom overhead, of the predicted evil, seeking vengeance for a crime that was long forgotten. Reprimanding for what had already been sought for cleansing, the man in him lay shaken on the wet floor.

The wind carried with it her fragrance, revoking memories of the days gone, reminding him of the beauty whom he sought for two long years, a lifetime of memories that they were...

At the village opera, on a beautiful moon laden autumn eve, made he the glance at her, glance that changed his life forever. It was not her beauty, it was not her elegance, it was the aura of divinity in her which made best of the men bow their heads in unison as she passed by. The shine in her eyes, the shine that could lighten up the dark sky on a winter night, shan't be his. The smile, the smile that brought dimples of godly perfection, on her soft cheeks, shall always remind his lost treasure, that was her. Agreeing humbly to the will of god, admiring the Almighty's strength and dominance, accepting what he preached, for his creations to follow, was not something he had always done. Set to mark out his trails as footprints in the history of world, he had found his lost passion in her. She bound him to his destiny, and the desperation triggered him to accomplish his mission in earnest, for he thought she awaited, at the gates, for her beloved. But to her, Beloved, he was not!
Crest-fallen he remained, amber in him obliterated, moving from place to place without purpose, joy detached from mind and soul.

Rays of hope haven't left the partner they found in him, and they remain. Hence he lives, waiting for yet another golden moment, when he shall, added the strength of true love, seek out her hand, to be his companion,for the eternal binding called life...

Insignia '08, Hackerdom

...And thus began Insignia '08, Hackerdom.

Day: 28th of August, 2008
Time: 10.45 p.m
Location: Room No. C1, Govt. Engineering College Men's Hostel, Thrissur

Scene1:
The work on video editing progresses as the darker hours of night close in. Midhun, eyes swollen with lack of sleep, continues into what seems to be his eleventh straight hour in front of the system. Sailesh, assisting and intermittently performing the job of waking him up from brief accidental siesta, looked as alert and enthu-filled as ever. The job was getting on my nerves. It was our fourth day with the process of preparing a trailer video for Insignia 08, Hackerdom, yet it was where we had left it last evening. The mixing was taking helluva lot time, what with the format conversion of video files, cutting out clips for back ground music etc.

Scene2:
It was 1a.m. The video files and picture slides have been successfully blended in. BGM yet to be added. Midhun on the verge of calling it a day or calling it quit, two others(Sethu and Arun Rushdie) and me peacefully sleeping at one corner of the room, satisfied that our job of filming scenes for the video was completed in time. Krishnanunni, Convenor, Insignia 08, Hackerdom, walks in to view our progress. Anxiety was evident on his face, as he inquired the sleepy workers about the status.
Seeing that there needs to be another two or three hours of work needed on the video to get it completely done, manipulations happen ( :P) , an offer of Puttu and Kadala from Double-X the only hotel open at night in Thrissur. We ( the words Puttu and Kadala woke me up from the slumber instantaneously!) agreed and a half hour later, there it was, steaming hot Puttu and Kadala. Another two hours and lights off....

Scene3:
around 6.45 a.m, 29th.
I was the first one to rise( quite an unusual thing). Woke up the editors and mixers and blah blah and went about my chores. Two hours of sleep taking its toll, as they moved like zombies to begin where it had been halted.

Scene4:
10.45a.m, Seminar Hall, Govt. Engineering College
The Chief guest and other people presiding over the function- Curtain Raiser of Insignia 08, Hackerdom seated on the podium. The official welcome speech, followed by all the other speeches..


Scene5:
12a.m
Time to launch the theme music for the event, prepared by Jain. That was some music! A melodious mix of keyboard, saxo and drums, and many more that I couldn't comprehend.
Our video followed. Cheers from crowd....

Scene5 re-take:
Time to launch the theme music for the event prepared by Jain. Wait! what's happening? a sudden commotion in the rear end of the hall, and there drifts out a large mass of third years.
Reason: Results of Third semester exams announced. Memories drift back to last March-April, the time when we wrote it. Adam's Apple stuck half-way in my throat. The results couldn't have come at a better time than this. Tense faces all around. People scurrying around, searching for internet access. Dubious emotions settling around temples. Eyes glittering, water in them ready to pour out given the green signal...

I hate results!!

bLOg CaMp hERe wE CoMe......

Its that time of the year, when event the rains can't hinder the best from advancing to you. The time when joys come with abound wonders, when depressions and desperation make way for hope and excitement.

Now that you've realized I really do know some adjectives, here's the news- Blog Camp Kerala.
The very first blogger's unconference to be held on a stunning house boat, in the charming backwaters of Alleppey(Alapuzha). And the crowd of bloggers on roll to attend the program is commendable, many of them being true masters at the skills of writing blog articles are viewed read by thousands.... Check out the list to see some known faces.

The Red Fort Govt. Engg. College is represented by a team of eight- Alex, Bristow, Arun Rushdie, Rohit Rajesh, Gokul, Denny and Aswin, Of which leaving Alex, Aswin and Gokul, rest of us are reaching Alapuzha on 14th eve itself.

That said, let me say why am I going there? I use bullets here:
1. Meet new bloggers.
2. Trip in a house-boat
3. Learn more on Campus blogging.
4. Learn more on increasing monetary benefits from ads on blogs and like wise..

The camp is scheduled to begin at 9A.M at Punnamada Boat Jetty.
I sincerely believe that the camp has great stuffs in store for us...
More details when we return....

warm wishes to the success of the Blog Camp and its Organisers for such a wonderful choice of location and themes.

Buzzing off.

Its Back , Its here!!

The bells have rung. The clock strikes Twelve. Its time to battle!!

Calicut University yet again in action. This time its us, the Fourth Semester B.Tech students who have to battle against the University in the war where the only principle valid is " Survival of the Luckiest".

Third Semester University Exam notification has been released. It "ensures" that the exams may commence from 25th March. Thats just Eighteen days from now. No, I'm not frantic, just a bit agitated that the time given is so less.

18 days are to be spent for split attack on the heavy metal barrage of syllabus. Covert operations like "bits" or "exchange" is seemingly impossible in this battle field. Only way is to fight tooth for tooth , eye for an eye!

Now frankly, I've just got two eyes to give off and there are 6 exams, which ensures the fact of messing up the rest 4 papers, and probably the first two as well, guaranteed. :)

There is DSA( easy to type on a keyboard! ), i.e, Data Structures and Algorithms, STLD ( Switching Theory and Logic Design) and ECS( Electrical Circuits and Systems!). The most dreaded subjects of the Semester. These enemy fighters have been awarded the medals of " Largest Supply Provider", " Minimum Marks Mera Hai" and various other ones.



Our brave comrade Gabbar Singh, who fought against the universities of North India long time ago stated this quote in his movie Sholay " Jo dar gaya, samjho wo mar gaya". This is what my policy is going to be. Nopes, my knees won't buckle, my hands won't shiver and definitely I wont stink from sweat.

If not as mighty as the University, we aren't feeble either. The pre-war prep has begun. The trumpets have been blared, and the sirens are waking up every dozing brain in the vicinity. The hands that carried cigarette butts and "uppu soda" glasses during the entire semester, while idle chatting at Pallimoola, shall now bear the mighty pen and shed one's own blood into the waiting answer papers. Oops, getting way too carried away with the campaign.( Mental note: Play less of "Rome: total war". :) )

I had been to college today. Our hang out, Appachan's corner, was devoid of almost all the Second year guys, the regulars. As my feet took me towards Mech tree, the situation was no different. CCF(Centralized Computing Facility ) was in the clutches of First years and MCA people who were relishing the fact that we are about to face our doom. The sarcasm showed when they beamed at me.

Only people I met who belonged to the same rein were Sailesh, Tony and Merlin. Alas! what was happening to Tony! There he was, sitting with the DSA text by Ullman, concentration heavy on his eyeballs, as though burning the papers with this intensity. The three did not notice me as I walked towards them. It was Sailesh, taking a break( for a brief yawn) who saw me first. His face was devoid of the pleasing smile, and wore a sombre look. Teaching them both was Merlin, looking up at me over the rims of her glasses with dispassionate interest, probably perturbed by my interference.



Wars have psychological influences, they say. The aura was intimidating. My hands reached for the hereditary DSA textbook passed on to me from elder brother...

Guess I won't be here for a brief period from now.. Until we meet, pray that I survive the shelling and encounters with the University and return home, my bloggerworld, with all physical organs intact!!

Sneak Peak-Yanthra '07

Dedication- to all the motor freaks out there..

The place Cheruthuruthi is about 30 kms from Trichur, nearer to Vadakkancheri and Shornur. Located amidst the blissful scenery and in the lap of mother nature, is Jyothi Engineering College.

Today, on 8Th December, Rohit and me visited this college and its gigantic campus, to witness the technical exhibition by the Mechanical students of this college- YANTHRA 07. Primo facto for such a trip was the rumor that the meanest of the mean machines- Hummer H3 is at exhibit there.

I had been to Palakkad yesterday, to get a glimpse of my niece( yes I'm an uncle, to eight kids!!) who had just come down from Chennai. She's just over an year old, a chubby little being.



Later at night, plans were made to attend Yanthra the next day. I started off from Palakkad earlier this morning. As against my belief and to utter bewilderment, the National Highway connecting Trichur and Palakkad had been patched up, and the journey, that used to take 4 hours to travel just over 60kms,briefed to a mere one hour.

Soon after reaching home, i set out to meet Rohit and off we were to Jyothi. Climate being surprisingly pleasant at the pitch of the day, we cruised and reached at about 2p.m in Cheruthuruthi.



The quiz contest which we had plans of competing in, was scheduled at around that time, and, soon after finishing and returning the paper the same way as it was given to us... neat, clean and blank :), we paced up to see the exhibits.




The whole display had been categorised into Bikes and Cars section separately, and our primary initiative was to visit the former.

There was a long array of modified bikes, opallargely Pulsars converted to R1's and Hayabusas, without a trace of its actual self. For a moment, even i was convinced that the mo bike in front of me was the real Suzuki Hayabusa. Check out this pic before you exclaim.



There were more bikes and a few of them were really drop-dead gorgeous!



The Cars section, apart from the Hummer H3, had a Pajero for display, though the crowd was chiefly hovering around the former. As expected, the stupendous Hummer H3 was grandiose in appearance, imported from Dubai as the number plate read, and gleaming in bright yellow paint. Oodles of volunteers crowded around to keep the viewers from prying nearer.



Took some pictures of the Hummer and moved ahead for a view of Pajero. Though Pajeros are becoming increasingly common in our land, its still worth an eyeful to stand there and praise the sheer effort and excellence of people behind the creation of this magnificient vehicle, the 4x4 that rules the dunes.

Then there was the technical exhibition of the Electronics department of the college- Magnum Opus.

Surprisingly small as I am to admit, there weren't many attractions and it was largely an assortment of hardware stuff, from valve radios to DVD writer lenses.

The only exhibit that I was amused by is this:



Developed indigenously, this pic programmer could accommodate a number of various PICs with varying number of leads, and the only drawback was the lack of support for Atmel.
Front lawn of the college, if I may call it so!!


To sum up, i was thoroughly pleased by the college and its vast campus, a little less so by the exhibition. Sorry guys, it could have been better!!

Dhyuthi 07 - My Event Synopsis

Three magnificient days celebrating the annum mirabilis. Days that shall be embossed in golden letters in the history of the institution. Days that will remain afresh for years to come, in the minds of the people who witnessed it.



The Golden jubilee celebrations of the college, which commenced on the 28th of November have finally come to an end today morning, 1st December. The preparations for the same had started months back and the program was coined the name 'Dhyuthi' which means light. Over 700 colleges were invited for this grand event and the crowd that turned up was well beyond ten thousand.

I was a volunteer in the Reception committee for the program. There were other committees as well,viz., the committes for Local arrangement, Media, Food and Accomadation and so on. In addition there were general volunteers who took care of any odd job that turned up. The co-ordinated function of these committees under expert leadership of seniors is worth applause.

On 27th , at around 3p.m, we embarked on a bike rally through the city to proclaim the beginning of the function the day after. Two on each bike, carrying posters and leaflets , soaring through the heart of the city, beeping horns and catching attention. It was an effective mean to express, i must admit, as all around people craned their necks to see us passing.



The day One began with off-stage events like Painting and Creative Writing. The Inaugural function began at 6p.m. Noted South Indian singer Karthik( one who sang in 'Boys') and cine director Kamal were the guests. It was followed by a musical concert by Karthik himself which got the crowd tap to the beats played by music director Benet and his team.



As the rights for photography during the concert were solely for the media committee, I do not have any clips to put out here, but here is his autograph he signed for me during a break between the songs.



The Reception committee had put up an Information desk at the entrance to college and I was chiefly assigned to be there, reciting the Event Schedule and helping out people who seeked any kind of information regarding the program.



A remarkable feat I achieved during this program was to mingle with a new lot of friends, people whom I often see in and off the campus, but never known in person. They were largely from other departments, but the GEC-ian spirit was present in all of us that made us bind for the common cause, hand in hand.

The schedule of the on stage events for day 2 is as given below.



The only events I could manage to see were 'Step and Synchro' and 'English Drama'. Step and Synchro is a unique program in which two dancers, with a dark screen separating them, dance in perfect synchronisation to the music played. The crowd responded with cheers for perfection and mistakes were accompanied with booing.

Here is a design that was made in the Rangoli event. I was amused!!



College wore a festive look and colorful lights illuminated every nook and corner of the gigantic campus.



On day 3, another information desk was put up near stage 3 which evidently helped me in watching the Movie Spoof event. The characters from various movies acting for a common story was hilarious. Next in the list was the event which was most anticipated- Radio Mango 91.9 FM's RJ Freak-Out. Final participants for it were selected earlier in the prelims and the 16 finalists performed with excellence.
A minute was given for them to present any performance they wished and scores were given on the basis of the same. Singer Franko, Producer Shogun Ravi and the scriptwriter of the movie 'NAMMAL' which was shot almost entirely in our campus were the judges. The participants presented unique bits of humour and 7 ( +1 selected by sms votes) were let into second round.
In the second round they were to reply spontaneously to the situations presented, such as 'selling a pre-paid connection to Musharaff' , or reaction when 'you win a 10lakh rupee lottery'. The crowd roared with laughter and encouraged the best of the best.

The valedictory function which was presided by Babu Palisseri, M.L.A was followed by another musical concert. The programs that followed it were sensational and pulsating and as the events progressed to dawn of Dec 1, sleep was no where to be seen on any face and all that remained, once the event of all events finished was the unanswered question- when next??

Here's a pic of the masterpiece work that was set up in the college campus by some students.




It was a wonderful experience and a remarkable feat in my campus life, the memories of which will stay along with me for very many reasons than above. The sense of pride on being able to contribute my two penny worth in this jumbo event is not expressible in words.

Truly, proud and honoured to be GEC-ian!!!

'Dam!!' Its Gorgeous!! Peechi dam, Thrissur

Peechi Dam( Reservoir) provides for the water supply to more than half the population of Thrissur district. Thanks to the Weather phenomena happening some where in Indonesia, the state of Kerala has been receiving heavy rains for the last 10 days. The water level in the dam has reached the apex thus making it essential to lift its "shutters", which control the level of water stored in the reservoir.

We, a gang of 12, took this as an opportunity to relish in the lap of nature overlooking the region surrounding the dam. Cars, belonging to Rohit and Bristow were arranged for immediately, and congested though we were, made it to Peechi which was roughly 17kms from Thrissur City.

It was drizzling as we reached Peechi. We approached the location directly over the shutter where from one could actually feel the rumble of water gushing savagely through a narrow gap of 20 Inches to the surface 50 feet+ below. It was definitely a view of a lifetime seeing the water in the adjacent reservoir touching maximum level for the first time in 20-25 years. I remembered Samuel Taylor Coleridge's words,"Water water everywhere, not a drop to drink" as in this case we could not reach the actual water body because of restrictions by the authorities.:)

It was followed by a hike into jungle nearby. We went on narrow forest paths, where on only one person can walk abreast,all the time awestruck by the sheer power of water, the force of which hitting rock bottom was deafening. Our trek through the jungle came to an end at a small rivulet where in we halted and took rest. It was getting dark(6.30p.m) and they say, in jungle night falls even before one realises. :)

The trek was loaded with many funny instances of people quoting doubts on a small motion in the nearby bush mistaking it to be snakes and all. We soon returned back to Civilisation and made our way to the bottom of the fall.Jets of water formed mist all around upon meeting with the base ground and it was a wonderful feeling relinquishing all worries of the day and letting mind float over the beautiful waves that were being created and destroyed every moment.
Kerala is truly, the God's own Country.


Everyone chose to stay for the night at my place upon compulsion. Ramakrishnan was given birthday bumps at 0000hrs as he is turning 19 today. As always, we sat around debating on a field of common interest and the talks went on till 2 in the morning when we called it a "day" and went to sleep.

It was one rare experience all together and a real nice getaway from our busy schedules in and after college :).

Girls are Selfish !!

For those of you who don't know, I am undertaking coaching at the popular T.I.M.E MBA/CAT tutors.

I have my classes every Sunday from 10a.m to about 4p.m. The classes deal with various topics, ranging from Intellectual Ability Enhancement to that of Verbal Ability and from Data Interpretation to Logical Thinking.

Though the classes had commenced about 2 Months ago, I started attending them on regular basis only since mid August(You know college habits die hard:))

The reason why i started this post is to share my first experience in attending a Group Discussion or G.D, in short.
Our verbal Ability classes are taken by one of gifted teachers I've ever met, Mr.Joseph.Witty and jolly in person ,he has a unique knack of making us face the audience without fear of shame or without feeling shy.

Coming back to the session we had with him today, he introduced us to the Pros and Cons of G.D and the Do's and Don'ts while attending one.

We were made to stand in a circle and various topics were given.To list a few, we had discussion on "Making Dowry legal","Girls are selfish(how true :) !!!)" and "Boys are Mommy's toys","Subsidizing Junk Food" and many more funny, interesting topics.

People were eliminated after the end of 10 minutes and the discussion would continue with new people filling the gap.There were many funny instances as the discussion heated up,one of which was a comment by a fellow classmate saying that he has had enough bad experiences to say that women are mean and selfish.The whole class erupted in laughter.

Joseph Sir, however, told us that seldom do such topics appear in G.D and therefore asked us to be keen and more enthusiastic in reading newspapers,keeping track of various global events and many other stuffs.

Its been a long time since i touched a newspaper for reading a news article, though I've browsed it infinitesimal times to check out the new movie in town and whether there is a strike in any part of the city.. :)

Guess I'll have to start doing what he instructed in near future.But not now anyway :).

Tomorrow is the big day- the Finals of Twenty 20 World Cup where in India will meet arch-rivals Pakistan in a death battle where only the true savage survives.
buzzing off