Virus Today

Am not here to lecture on the history of viruses, but to put forth some of them I remember, and would want to remember as of how they demanded my attention to them. whatever the name be, a virus or a trojan, i assume here to be a virus. Some interesting viruses I have seen are:

The New Folder:
whoever named it did a wonderful job! Ever had the enthu to see the number of directories in your system? this thing I am talking about creates as many folders.. sry.. files in the name of new folder, the icon of which resembles that of a folder as well. Our natural tendency when we see a new folder is to see whats in it, so that we name it for good. one instance of that is enough to ruin the system beyond nothing but a clean format unless and until u find some anti-virus that can clean it. none, when i saw it. partial format such as the format option given in the context menu with the OS will not do.

explorer virus:
The most striking feature in windows coming from dos, the GUI and the ability to click and explore the drives. This one interferes with the capabilities of explorer and removes the click-ability of the icons for disk drives in my computer thus having to do it the harder way - use the address bar by giving the location..phew..

gtalk virus:
relatively uncomplicated compared to many contemporaries, but attention grabber as it chats with your friends on the gtalk list and prompts them to click a link and survives its race :). another one dissembles the sound drivers and demands a clean format as well.

there are a lot many out there like the one that restarts the PC on opening the My computer or the cmd, ones that keep replicating and eat the space and many more that I haven't remembered or that their function is reasonably subtle for me to recognise.
They have all done their jobs keeping us on our toes for the constant vigil that is needed. At a stage its felt that maintaining an antivirus is far more difficult than it is to have the viruses on computer as, the first of their preferences is to turn off the antivirus..hmm.. this business has become quite lucrative and I heard some grapevine that some people create the deadly things and claim to have the soln for them so that it attracts many a customers to buy the product. Great techniques indeed!!
these little viruses have made some history, pages of which are here. :D

virus tomorrow :
some kinds of viruses I anticipate the existence in the future are:

the clipboard virus: this takes control of the clipboard and cripples the system by not allowing any movement/replication through the clipboard. moving a file to a different folder thus involves the arduous task of uploading the file and sending it to yourself using a p2p s/w so that u can download and save in the location of interest. Does deleting a file involve the clipboard? :P

mouse/keyboard virus:
this future virus manipulates the drivers of keyboard and mouse and making them dysfunctional. And if possible the CD drive as well making a deadly combo where in one can only switch on and do nothing else.. is format a possibility?
making the mouse/keyboard alone dysfunctional is not such a big problem as there are this on screen keyboard and navigation keys for cursor.

format king:
when the primary OS is XP, having vista in some other drive makes it irremovable unless vista is removed first (vista's grub or whatever it is, is in the primary OS drive and vista being a higher OS in the lineage.) my concept is: the virus should be able to place one such grub in the primary OS making it irremovable as long as the virus isn't healed. of course linux can clean the mess.

I doubt the validity of the types i have mentioned above. thats what i think about the present ones and the ones that i anticipate in the future. not that i want them to move about freely. windows has become the home ground for these fellows, lets hope windows can see their backs soon. :)
emanna/anni tappulu aina kshaminchandi babu..pani leka raasanu

I hate tuesdays

Yeah!! for those who feel its weird, you have seen that right!! Its the day most of the BITSian eggitarian(not a word i guess) psenti-semites do wish would not ever come. we, the BITSians, support the cause of NECC and this is the day BITS opposes the cause of the very NECC. We support the cause for the only reason that there is nothing comestible leaving away the egg bhurji and the egg rice. Pure vegetarians are real gods!! It makes no difference in a BITSian psenti-semite's life whether it be a sunday or a monday as no day demands you to work this sem.
classes so far attended this sem: 4-5.
actual no. of classes:class a day.. haha..

My day starts off early in the day at 8 or 9 AM, i donno what the time is when my sidee wakes me up with the same boring bas ek pal and carnival of rust everyday(goto CONT). It is because of this guy that our wing has someone awake through the day. now that i mentioned that, there is another great feature of the wing that 10 of the 15 hold some post(as wide as prez of CSA, placement volunteers, cul-sec,sports-sec,hostel-rep,veg-sec,hostel committee members).CONT:After the wake-up call I try hard getting back to my work and give it all up at 12noon when the same guy wakes me up(this time directly) for mess :). And then I have a A la carte having various series, each of them waiting for their turn. scheduling algo is Shortest job first ;). The menu now has LOST,chuck,HIMYM,detective school q(finished),sarabhai vs sarabhai. Healthy competition can be seen in the waiting queue(24,slam dunk,seinfeld,wall flower).
And then LAN games in the offing whenever u want to play.. thats a small roster though (aoe, aom,cric2k7) and sports in the evening(only cricket of course).. now with such a busy schedule where's the time to attend the class(remember one class a day),watch movies, listen to songs.. impossible!! A news paper and a novel make the schedule even tighter .To accommodate so many I stay awake until 3-4AM in the morning. Now it makes sense that I call 9AM early in the morning,doesn't it? And the time I could listen to songs:::::: is the time it took me to write all this crap. Forgot to mention!! there is one other thing that is indispensable in my diet until a few days ago..now its off season :( feeding on ANC now..
thats alllllllllllllll for now

Sometimes in our sleep our brain, out of ennui thinks out of scope and creates a dream, a hypothetical situation, where in we are surprised to see ourselves and wake up all of a sudden to check if its all true. I just woke up that way!! consequently it gave me something to write. It has been quite a while since I posted my previous one, largely owing to the busy times of aptis and interviews(although not many). At least the ground work took a considerable time. i gave myself a treat for the placement(a new 250gb hdd).

implement a stack using a brain?! sounds easy :). this is one question I posed after the answers have come out from many mouths, infact proven practically. Just start a blog is the answer. Hope many of u give an affirmative.

A lot of change has taken affect this summer: road to pilani is much better, rajasthan is a lot greener, rains bringing nostalgic feelings of the Hyd weather, buses(companies) have become very stingy, student politics white hot :). seems our juniors are bent on changing BITS to what it was before our batch came in.

so tomorrow is the BLOGGER's day. does it make me any different.. huh no.no special post tomorrow :D. I ask you a puzzle: 1 __ 81 64 25..what fills the blank the best?

this is an unorganised post!! kindly bear it!!please comment if u have one

Fedex Vs Nada

Quite an anachronistic issue to post considering the dormant period of grand slam tennis, but doing this under obligation :). But....

How can one even in his wildest dreams compare by juxtaposing them!!! Doesn't everyone know that Federer is no match for Nadal!!

Some SILLY reasons why I say so: the first inane reason being the pronunciation "nadaal" gives some peculiar feeling of power :D, Nadal is fashionable with his gaudy sleeveless shirts and the three-fourths, a left-handed maverick of his age, with highly curvy muscles, long hair and acting to the trend of the world in fact he is making the world act to his trend :).

Winning four french open titles in a row, is aptly called the King of clay, routing the world champion in all four of them be it finals or semis. The last one being a nightmare for the world champion where he could only manage to score 4 points from a three set routing. And then in 2005 he nudged himself to activity on grass court grand slam, and within a year saw him go through to the finals in wimbledon 2006. And then in 2007. In 2008 however the King of clay assailed over Federer. Although many say it to be a close contest, it is pertinent only to the 3rd and 4th sets when both the sets had to be decided by a tie-breaker. The previous two being won by Nada by a margin,not very easily though.

The only player to have more wins that losses over federer, the only player to have won 80 odd matches consecutively on clay, the only other player to have won four french open titles, making the french open title less and less palpable for federer he deserves to be given the FIRST page in tennis history :D.

recently, exacerbating the agony of federer a third contender comes into the brawl which was otherwise a duel since three years. He went away with the Australian open. Thus making it a triple strike for federer, who has the backing of Mr.Saturn(dunno what english people call sani, hence made a translation from telugu myth :D) whenever he doesn't need some. After having fallen four rungs in four years in the form of french open and three rungs consecutively this year, Federer looked back to see Nadal incognito ;). But Nadal remains modest and still hails federer to be the number one, although half the world considers him to be.

However, this argument with sense or not is entirely supportive of Nadal. For you Federer fans, there are no jargon of tennis that I used here and this is no technical talk and I admit that the other side of the argument is more elegant and burnished. However, I tap to the tune of Nada Nada forever, until the two are existent in tennis!!! I hope Nadal backs him forever :D

GRE-2

In my first ever post in blogger, I express my amateur thinking regarding the GRE. This is how i feel like, after having gone through the preparation and the test.


" I agree with the introductory statements even now.. i feel there is still a little lack of preparation, since I did not by heart the Barron's word-list, which is considered a must for GRE preparation. I don't think the way to start our preparation is mugging the word lists in order. If you want to retain all the words that you have read by then, completing the word list would take a lifetime! instead go thru some word groups. By word groups I mean, arrogance has a lot of synonyms some of which directly indicate arrogance and some of which indicate in a sinuous way, similarly there are many groups like irascibility, hard working, laziness, etc..
If you take hard working a variety of words express it : industrious, assiduous, sedulous,diligent, so on. similarly something/being in the starting stages or birth: incipient, inchoate, genesis, fledgling, germinal, seminal, etc..
similarly other word groups include broad topics like law, sports, mythology, etc..
these cover most of the words you need to learn. not all but the very important part of the word lists. other words are not very frequent..
The most repeated smaller topics are arrogance, friendliness, stubbornness, laziness, working hard, quarrelsomeness, criticizing, praising, hugeness or lightness, being sad,being cheerful, type of personality, nonchalant attitude, active or inactive, copying, stealing, deceiving, exaggerated speech, patriotism, cunning, innocence, kinds of literature, mockery etc..
After having gone through these topics the questions will be relatively easy since most of the questions should use this kind of topics, and then one can target the remaining words. No need to be very upset if one doesn't know many of them. very specific nouns like parapet are not seen very regularly. After taking so many tests I haven't seen many words like that.

barron's includes words like parapet which means a small wall at the edge of a balcony or terrace for which you try hard to remember when it is relatively a very unimportant word. Moreover when u do not remember the word with a context, it is highly likely that you forget it. Instead take a topic "spontaneous presentation w/o prep": some words that have a similar meaning are extempore,ad lib,improvise,impromptu. These words will be easy to remember if studied as a group and can be considered as a single reading, whereas if studied from a word list they would constitute a different read every time one of these comes across.

contrary to what I said in the post earlier mentioned, we prepare for vocab not because a professor at a very good univ speaks a high level english, but the vocab skill is more or less equivalent to one's logical skill! it serves an additional purpose of testing if we have enough vocab skill to be able to live there may be!!
In my first days of preparation I didn't find any logic in the questions, once I had enough words in my grip I started to find some logic. In fact, a word can be used in various ways and thereby different logics.
analogies have two words in which we have to find a reln between the words.the relation should be modified if necessary in a more specific way depending on the options . all this accounts to a logic.
sentence completion tests how one thinks in a situation,a blank.
similarly the opposite of something can be taken in various ways and our thinking should be in tone with the options again.

That's all for now!! I've been talking too much about the GRE as if I succeeded in getting a great score!! So I stop this for now!!My next topic is one, whatever bub says!! ;)

after a great deal of thought the night I could recollect some of my test questions. I told one of them to my friend who was about to write in the next batch.. After the test he got the same question!! The question is

celebrate:lamentation::
of course i do not remember the options u can try out various connective themes from them.

another one
symptom:palliative::

some antonyms being
Noisome
The only option I remember is fragrant, the answer to the question :).

subtle
options palpable scad so on..

some other words that I came across are hagiography, untenable,

a sentence completion question

most of the colleagues are very _______ in their praise for the tenure of their manager on his retirement, but unlike them Nadar was ______ in his hagiography
options I remember
cautious sarcastic
insincere (some sort of praise)

topic I have taken for the issue essay is "history tells us only one thing: it is not useful for people in making important decisions"

will update this post in case I remember some new questions

Now, its only half as cumbersome

This has been easily the best week for me this summer. Not only did I get through two of my three jobs-to-do, I received a good reward in both of them. First of them being the driving license for which I was waking up at 6 in the morning all through the summer, the reward being a quick response from the RTO that I got my driving license in less than a week delivered to my house :D. Another effort pertaining to GRE paid off. Although not a great score I am content enough with what I got.

The test score is this satiating because I was very tense, in fact I was never this tense before for any other exam, because I preferred GRE preparation to placement preparation. Anything wrong if happened would not only have ruined my effort but also make the placements more crucial for me, that too with a very little preparation.

Coming to the test, nothing is allowed inside the exam hall except the passport,a must.
Then there is no extra section, a verbal or quant section,that I heard from so many people. There is only an experimental section which you may or may not attempt. And finally coming to applying for the four universities, one should better note their anticipated universities and their states as well, as there are so many universities, they were divided in terms of state. I missed out one of the universities I thought I would apply :(. The universities I sent my score card are: Univ of maryland,college park
Ohio state univ
univ of california,san diego
texas A&M univ

A respite in terms of encouraging your prep: do not be obsessed thinking that the words will be tough. I did not find any tough words in my exam: of course part of that happening can be attributed to the fact that there is still a possibility for 250 marks. But even then i think the most difficult is the most easiest question and that which uses simple words. I was very confused early on when all the questions I got seemed easy to me and since this is a CAT(computer adaptive test) test the level of the question remains easy only when u answer the previous one wrong. But there is a other way of looking at it which did not cross my mind then. The words or questions I know do not imply that they are easy or whatever, but with the natural negative tendency I became over cautious and lost some important time. Adding to my fear there came the reading comprehensions, which I feared the most, in the topic I feared the most(literature).I left out all of them, a whole of six questions which I guessed w/o even seeing the questions. These factors made me think of canceling the test, however the invigilator insisted on proceeding to the score, ultimately made me joyous. I didn't want any thing to prevent me from a good score, this made me resort to something I have never done before in my life wholeheartedly or by myself, devudi bottu pettukunna :)

my attempts at creating some ambigrams

the first one, an easy one to make, all it takes is some straight lines. of course, there is some imagination into it.the top left corner is the version i drew with hand in paint and the right bottom one is the 180 degrees rotated version of it.this pattern complies with all the bmps i have put up here.
second one is an ambigram of the name sunkara(my sidee and classmate for 7 years now). this one has taken a lot of time. difficulty is that the strokes are real hard ones to make in paint with a brush!! however it might look to each one of you, it had given me immense satisfaction once its finished.
third one is my mom's name.once again doesn't need much brain storming, only challenge is making the "a" look like "m" on rotation. one setback i faced doing this is a power cut that came just when i completed doing it, there by losing the work. hence had to do it again..
fourth one is my sister's name.actually used part of my previous work for this.

As I promised to upload a video in one of my previous blogs depicting the plight of being at pilani, I somehow succeeded uploading it this time owing to the supportive net. The post mentioned earlier is titled "Wanna see(read) how its like being here in Rajasthan?".

moreover,I uploaded two more posts after what you can call a small hiatus. some new changes to the blog are :page-view counter and button that takes you to the download page of firefox. the intent of the special button is to help firefox set the record, which is now accomplished and their hunger for success is never ending and they look to improve upon the margin.

IPL-08

happy to see the IPL teams abiding to our poll results :). Although unhappy with mumbai not taking a place in the final four, they deserve not being for the semis as for their inability to conquer pressure situations, not once but twice in the last three matches that they lost from what is a safe position to post a win. Anyway they have comeback strongly after the initial array of defeats, and brought the competition alive.
I was hoping to see how punjab would play when Marsh fails, he gave me only one chance and that proved enough for me to think that punjab is riding on marsh's luck. He buckled out to Dhoni's mightier fortuity ;).. things would have been different, then. Gambhir was as good as Marsh, only that he did not have his share of luck unlike the latter.My tendency is to support the weaker team when both the teams aren't the ones I was looking forward to see. So, for the final I wished and hoped for chennai to win. wish Raina had taken the catch of pathan. Rajasthan deserved to be the winners. they have come out to be the winners,out of nowhere defying everyone's views about them. One of the cheapest players in the IPL, shane watson, turned out to be the man of the series and rightly so. he had his impact felt in both the semis and the finals with both bat and ball.
lets wait for the next edition to see what surprise packages are in store for us!!

Firefox - innovation and quality personified

Had the firefox entered the industry a little earlier,it would have been the leading browser in terms of usage by now. I say in terms of usage bcos we all know its the leader in speed, providing security. Although it's not the most used browser now, it is the largest used single version evident from the monthly surveys by w3schools,a reputed website "http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp". Even though considering IE5,IE6,IE7 as one they lead only bcos of reasons like:
1)IE being the default browser in windows, the most used operating system.
2)internet community which is largely browsed by pedestrians, who never dare installing
any other softwares, and many of them do not even have a faint idea of any other browser. they are unfairly obsessed that internet is nothing but IE.
But fortunate for the mozilla corporation that for all the efforts they have put in the project starting from zero when the IE was the dictator in the arena they have improved a lot. one can understand that only a superior software can replace a leader, and firefox is taking large steps towards attaining that edge.
usage statistics comparison:
in jan 2004 IE-84.7 firefox-5.5
in apr 2008 IE-54.8 firefox-40.1
at this pace it doesn't take long before firefox engulfs more of IE users into its belly.
go for firefox. the traffic to the site was so heavy prior to the release on tuesday that the server could not handle so many requests.with the advent of the latest firefox,it's sure to catch many more an eye. wish firefox on its record(sure to be held) and increase its margin by downloading it either at "http://www.spreadfirefox.com/" or in the top of the side bar here.

Wanna see(read) how its like being here in Rajasthan?

Actually i planned to upload a video showing a sand storm cloud in pilani.but could not do so coz our net rocks

This is where we live. You can see vast barren lands, huge clouds of dust closing on us. Nothing stays upright in Pilani,  every now and then a hot, dry and dusty wind comes and feeds us with a lots of sand, smears our body with a layer of dust that makes any general bitsian long for an unnatural bitsian thing to do,bathe. Scorching heat, dusty winds have become quite common for us here.
There do not end our woes, usually the sandstorm is followed by a violent rainfall, with large drops.The water doesn't stay long though.when the rain stops it looks as if someone sprinkled some water for the dust to settle down. By the next day the sun does its work and gives us back our normal Pilani and there comes another cloud of dust, fast approaching to smear us again.No matter what you do to cover the ventilators, windows, lots of dust sneaks in and cover the untouched books, monitors, piles of clothes.Poor comps,they face all these hardships and never say a word. Yet, we do not bother dusting it off :).We help the sandstorms accumulate some dust,for it might have lost some depositing somewhere, by removing grass at the root level and leave it open to join the vast open atmosphere. the dust waits there until one of these winds come.Of course the purpose of removing the grass altogether a different thing.
Its only the end of a paragraph,not the end of our woes again. so far its just one half of the year am talking about.by the way,you might not be aware,we only face 2/3rd the woes, coz there is no rainy season for pilani. So, it leaves us with the only other thing,the winter for the other half.in summer the temperature never goes beyond 30.Am talking from the other side of it :).


 happy that am leaving this place in a week. :). Of course am gonna come back for the other half,but for now i somehow skip one hard part.

Winter:next post...

some compliments to sachin by some legends of cricket

LEGENDS' QUOTES ON SACHIN TENDULKAR

Andrew Symonds wrote on an aussie t-shirt he autographed specially for Sachin. "To Sachin, the man we all want to be" Mathew Hayden: I have seen GOD , he bats at no.4 for india in Tests. Ravi Shashtri: He is someone sent from up there to play cricket and go back. Mark Taylor: We did not lose to a team called india...we lost to a man called Sachin. Brain Lara: Sachin is a genius , i am a mere mortal! Barry Richards: Sachin is crickets GOD Martin Crowe: The shot played on this ball is only possible for the GOD of cricket. Ian Botham: If someone says that Sachin is not a big match player , throw that person from the highest peak of the world. Paul Strang: What we [zimbabwe] need is 10 tendulkars. Steve Waugh: There is no shame losing to such a great player(sachin). Shane Warne: I would go to bed having nightmares of sachin dancing down the ground and hitting me for sixes. Sourav Ganguly: He batted like GOD today. Mathew Hayden: His life seems to be a stillness in a frantic world... [When he goes out to bat], it is beyond chaos - it is a frantic appeal by a nation to one man. The people see him as a God... Viv Richards: He is 99.5% Perfect.. I’ll pay to watch him play. Dennis Lillie: If I had to bowl to Sachin I would bowl with a halmet on. He hits the ball so hard. Steve Waugh: After being defeated in the Coca-Cola Cup finals in Sharjah) "It was one of the greatest innings I have ever seen. There is no shame being beaten by such a great player, Sachin is perhaps only next to the Don'' Sir Don Bradman: I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two...hi compactness, technique, stroke production... it all seemed to gel! in reference to Sachin Tendulkar. Michael Kasprowicz: Don't bowl him bad balls, he hits the good ones for fours." Shane Warne: I'll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the wicket and belting me back over the head for six. He was unstoppable. I don't think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar. He is just an amazing player." Wasim Akram: Today, he showed the world why he is considered the best batsman around. Some of the shots he played were simply amazing. Earlier, opposing teams used to feel that Sachin's dismissal meant they could win the game. Today, I feel that the Indian players, too, feel this way. Wasim Akram, after game at Hobart, CUB series, 1999 Brett Lee: You might pitch a ball on the off stump and think you have bowled a good ball and he walks across and hits it for two behind midwicket. His bat looks so heavy but he just waves it around like it's a toothpick. Brett Lee, on Sachin Tendulkar’s batting, 1999 Viv Richards: I think he is marvellous. I think he will fit in whatever category of Cricket that has been played or will be played, from the first ball that has ever been bowled to the last ball that’s going to be. He can play in any era and at any level. Barry Richards: Consensus is that Sir Donald Bradman was the best batsman ever to play Cricket. Sir Don did not play One-Day Cricket but if he did, he could easily be Sachin Tendulkar. BBC Sports: Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there is something we don't know, something beyond scientific measure. Something that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that, forget us, even those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When he goes out to bat, people switch on their television sets and switch off their lives. Wasim Akram: "I dont know what to bowl at him. i bowled an inswinger n he drove me thr covers of d front foot. then i bld an outswinger n he again punched thr covers of d backfoot(for tamil fans-dai avan eppadi pottalum adikaranda). he is d toughest batsmen i 've bowled to. he shold live long n score lots of runs, but not against pakistan(smiling) "--LEGENDARY WASIM AKRAM on our own SACHIN on 24th april 2004 on espn Sachin's 30th B day program.(i think) on his knock in 2003 worldcup. Sunil Gavaskar: India's fortune will depend on how many runs the little champion scores. There is no doubt Tendulkar is the real thing. Richie Benaud: He has defined cricket in his fabulous, impeccable manner. He is to batting what Shane Warne is to bowling. Geoffrey Boycott: Technically, you can't fault Sachin. Seam or spin, fast or slow nothing is a problem. Eddie Barlow: He is Sachin Tendulkar. I hope he stays Sachin Tendulkar. We need a new player, a player in his own way. He has a technique which is the hallmark of a great player. Everything indicates that he will be a great player and I am sure he will prove me right. Reminds me of Barry Richards. Greg Chappell: He is a perfectly balanced batsman and knows perfectly well when to attack and when to play defensive cricket. He has developed the ability to treat bowlers all over the world with contempt and can destroy any attack with utmost ease. Abdul Qadir: I Was fielding in the covers Tendulkar came out to bat in his debut Test at Karachi. I still remember Waqar Younis was at his peak form at that time. Tendulkar tried to drive Waqar through the covers off his very first ball in Test cricket but was beaten all ends up. But I walked to captain Imran Khan and told him 'this kid looks very good' and Imran agree with me. Sir Garfield Sobers: I have watched a lot of Tendulkar and we have spoken to each other a lot. He has it in him to be among the very best. Peter Roebuck: Sometime back I had written a piece that said that Sachin's the master and Lara a genius with his head high up somewhere. That's it! Jeff Thompson: Sachin is an attacker. He has much more power than Sunny. He wants to be the one to set the pace. He has to be on top. That's the buzz about him. Ian Healy: Tendulkar is the most complete batsman I have stood behind. I saw the hundred in Perth on a bouncy pitch with Hughes, McDermott and Whitney gunning for him he only had 60-odd when No 11 came in. I've seen him against Warne too. Mike Coward: Sachin's the best. I've had this view since I saw him score that hundred in Sydney in 1992. He's the most composed batsman I've ever seen. Hashim Amla: Nothing bad can happen to us if we're on a plane in India with Sachin Tendulkar on it. Hashim Amla, the South African batsman, reassures himself as he boards a flight. Shane Warne: "Sachin Tendulkar is, in my time, the best player without doubt - daylight second, Brian Lara third." Shane Warne delights the Indian press with his views on batting greats of this era Shahrukh Khan: "Maybe the country doesn't pray for me like they do for Sachin Tendulkar, but I know I'm on a good wicket as well. " "Sachin was so focused. He never looked like getting out. He was batting with single-minded devotion. It was truly remarkable. It was a lesson." Martina Navratilova: Tennis legend joins the Sachin Tendulkar fan club after watching him bat at Sydney. Alistair Campbell: After loosing to India in the Coca Cola Cup final at Sharjah in November '98 "He has everything a top batsman needs. Tendulkar is a classic example of a player being so good that his age is an irrelevance" David Boon: "Technically he stands out as the best because of his ability to increase the pace at will" Cricket Historian Vasant Raiji: "I have always felt C. K. Nayadu was the best. I now think sachin has the honour of being the most outstanding batsman of all time." Steve Waugh: "You take Don Bradman away and he is next up I reckon." Adam Hollioke: "In an over I can bowl six different balls. But then Sachin looks at me with a sort of gentle arrogance down the pitch as if to say 'Can you bowl me another one?'" Tony Greig: He is cool, has magnificent temperament, and is so mature you tend to forget his age. I can't think of any other example of a player who has so dominated the world before the age of 25. Allan Border: (after India won the Coca-Cola cup ) "Hell, if he stayed, even at 11 an over he would have got it." Ajay Jadeja "I can't dream of an innings like that. He exists where we can't." David Gower "In the last session in Nagpur, when the Indian chase was still on, Tendulkar hit a reverse sweep, an orthodox sweep and a lofted cover drive to (Ian) Blackwell. They were all exquisite cricket shots. To play those shots deliberately in such quick succession, off almost similar deliveries, was genius. That was a little jewel, just those 3-4 minutes. "It reminds you how very few people are special. It was a case of great thinking and good technique." Gavaskar..back in 1988 to tom alter I sat in the office of Sportsweek magazine with that same Sunil Gavaskar. Ayaz Memon and I were listening to Gavaskar in one of his rare, priceless moods. The ?Little Master? was delving deep into his own experience, his own genius, and bringing forth pearls of wisdom as sudden, and as effective, as his straight- drives back past the bowler. Then Gavaskar came up with the following statement (remember, this was in 1988, when Dilip Vengsarkar was about to become captain of India): "The two best batsmen in Bombay today are Vengsarkar and Sachin Tendulkar." Full stop. End of statement. The ball crosses the boundary-line underneath the sight- screen. Desmond Haynes In terms of technique and compactness, Tendulkar is the best: Desmond Haynes. Mark Taylor He's a phenomenon. We have to be switched on when he plays allow him no boundries, for then he doesn't stop Wasim "Cricketers like Sachin come once in a lifetime and I am privileged he played in my time," "Tuzhe pata hai tune kiska catch chhoda hai?" Wasim Akram to Abdul Razzaq when the latter dropped Sachin's catch. Allan Donald His shot selection is superb, he just lines you up and can make you look very silly. Everything is right in his technique and judgement. There isn't a fault there. He is also a lovely guy, and over the years I've enjoyed some interesting chats with him… Sachin is in a different class to Lara as a professional cricketer. He is a model cricketer, and despite the intolerable pressures he faces back home, he remains a really nice guy… Sachin is also the best batsman in the world, pulling away from Brain Lara every year… We'd heard all about him modelling himself on Sunil Gavaskar, and he had the same neatness, the same time to spare, the same calmness - and a very heavy bat. Anil Kumble -he's shy little gentleman I am very privileged to have played with him and seen most of the runs that he has scored. I am also extremely happy to have shared the same dressing room... He is a very reserved person and generally keeps to himself. He is very determined, committed and doesn't show too many emotions. He just goes about doing his job. The thing I admire most about this man is his poise. The way he moves, elegantly without ever looking out of place in any condition or company, suggests his pedigree. I remember he had once come to New Delhi in the 1990s to collect his Arjuna Award (India's highest award to its top sportspersons) and he asked me if I would attend the function. He is a very sensitive human being…. Sometimes you feel he really hasn't felt the kind of competition in the world his talent deserves. I would have loved to see him perform against top quality cricketers of the previous generation. It would really have brought out the best in him. Greame Pollock Tendulkar is the best in the world at the moment. Why I've always liked him is that batsmen tend to be negative at times and I think batting is not about not getting out - it is to play positively. I think you got to take it to the bowlers and Sachin is one such player. When you do so, you change the game, you change bowlers because they suddenly start bowling badly because they are under pressure. Ian Chappell Whenever I see Sachin play I am reminded of the Graeme Pollock quote of Cricket being a 'see the ball, hit the ball game.' He hits the ball as if it's there to be hit. Ravi Shastri: "We always knew that Sachin Tendulkar is a great cricketer, but after the Coca-Cola Cup here, we have seen the birth of a legend. I can't think of anybody who has batted more authoritatively in one day cricket for India, or even in the world except for Vivian Richards." Navjot Sidhu: "His mind is like a computer. He stores data on bowlers and knows where they are going to pitch the ball." Mark Taylor: "We did not lose to a team called India...we lost to a man called Sachin" - Mark Taylor, during the test match in Chennai (1997) Dravid Playing in the same team as Sachin is a huge honour. His balance of mind, shrewd judgement, modesty and, above all, his technical brilliance make him my all-time hero... You can't get a more complete cricketer than Sachin. He has everything that a cricketer needs to have. As a batsman, he has the technique, the hunger and the desire for runs. He always contributes with the bat as well as on the field. He also is a good fielder and bowls when needs. You really can't ask for a better cricketer than Sachin... He is a terrific person and has handled pressure brilliantly. He has handled his success very well and doesn't have any airs about him. He is a great guy and very good team man. In his heart of hearts, he is a very simple and down to earth person. Azhar The more I see him, the more I want to see him. Sunil Gavaskar: India's fortune will depend on how many runs the little champion scores. There is no doubt Tendulkar is the real thing Harsha bhogle if sachin plays well..india sleeps well SOURAV GANGULY The thing I like most about Sachin is his intensity. After being in the game for so long, he still has the same desire to do well for India in any international match.I tell you what, this man is a legend. Kris Srikkanth "He is the only match-winning batsman we have" Ranatunga "You get him out and half the battle is won" Andy Flower: There are 2 kind of batsmen in the world. One Sachin Tendulkar. Two all the others. Martin Crowe: A flighted full toss on Leg stump by spinner. any other will play this shot on leg side by pull shot or glance or flick. but sachin made a space and played a perfect cover drive for four runs. Martin Crowe (New Zealand's ever best bats man) said " the shot played on this ball is only possible for GOD Of CRICKET " Shane Warne: You have to decide for yourself whether you're bowling well or not. He's going to hit you for fours and sixes anyway. Kasprowicz has a superior story. During the Bangalore Test, frustrated, he went to Dennis Lillee and asked, "Mate, do you see any weaknesses?" Lillee replied, "No Michael, as long as you walk off with your pride that's all you can do". Rudy Kortzen "I never get tired during umpiring whenever sachin is on crease" sunny gavaskar This was after a wonderful century by sachin(in england i guess in a test match..not sure) Sunny: The other day i was just trying to think of a bowler who can go through sachin's defenses when sachin is in total defense. I am sorry but i could not think of even one name who could do that. If sachin decides he doesnt want to give away his wicket, he wont. be it any bowler in the world. Cheers to Sachin... PONTING Ponting make comparisons btn sachin,Lara& jayasuriya. Sachin is the best ever batsman in the world.He is brilliant in his technique 7 he is always hungry for runs.Sachin is better than Lara in his techniques & thats why he is No.1 among others.On his day,Lara wiil be more destructive.He is the only man 2 fight for west indies.Jayasuriya also played gr8 knocks 4 his team.But compared 2 them Sachin is the BEST Pradeep Mandhani ..a Photographer “Barely two hours after landing in Johannesburg on the 1992-93 tour to South Africa, the team was to visit Tolstoy Farm, Mahatma Gandhi’s first Satyagrahi Commune founded in 1910. It was situated 35 kms from Jo’burg and most of the Indian players showed little interest, longing to rest in the hotel after the long flight. But Tendulkar, still a teenager, looked keen and hungry to learn more about Gandhi. His volley of questions to the guide reflected his national pride.” NKP Salve, former Union Minister This was when he was accused of ball tempering “Sachin cannot cheat. He is to cricket what (Mahatma) Gandhiji was to politics. It’s clear discrimination.” "In my several years of international cricket, Tendulkar remains the best batsman I have ever bowled to. It’s been a pleasure to bowl at the master batsman even though one hasn’t always emerged with credit from the engagements." Allan Donald Allan Donald "During our team meetings, we often speak about the importance of the first 12 balls to Tendulkar. If you get him then you can thank your stars, otherwise it could mean that tough times lie ahead." Saurav Ganguly: SACHIN MADE 9 CENTURIES IN ONE YEAR BUT MANY CRICKETER DIDNOT MAKE 9 CENTURIES IN THEIR WHOLE CARRIER. Ricky Ponting: “Sachin is the most complete batsman I have seen. His technique is so good and he has played well in all conditions. To have 41 one-day international tons shows what an appetite he has for scoring runs.” Harsha Bhogle: There’s no better sight on the cricket field than watch Tendulkar bat. Rev David Shepherd, England. "Sachin Tendulkar! If he isn’t the best player in the world, I want to see the best player in the world".

an open letter to sachin from one of his unending list of fans

THE FOLLOWING LETTER IS AN OPEN LETTER TO SACHIN, FROM A FAN WHO CALLS HIMSELF SACH IS LIFE, ON SACHIN'S BIRTHDAY. THE LETTER IS QUITE A WONDERFUL ONE AND A MUST READ FOR EVERYONE. IT DESCRIBES WHAT A FAN EXPECTS FROM SACHIN AND HOW HE ADMIRES HIM. READ IT FOR SACH IS LIFE PLZZ. U WILL LUV IT.


This is the 1st time I am writing a letter to you. I choose this time to write a letter as your birthday is coming. The birthday I celebrate as a fest. I am your fan since Hero Cup semi-final against South Africa at Kolkata in 1993. The first time I heard your name was in 1990 when you were playing with Indian Team in Sharjah. I was merely 7 years old at that time and I still remember how much my gymnastic coaches were expecting from you during our practice session (I used to practice gymnastic). I still wonder how people can expect so much from a 16 year old kid at international level when he's playing with and against the likes of Devs, Imrans, Marshals, Bothams and so on. The expectations were huge from the people of India from the 16 year old kid at that time and the expectations got bigger by every passing day since that time. Now you are playing with likes of Pontings, Dhonis, Yuvrajs, Haydens, Flintoffs, and so on. Players came and gone but Sachin Tendulkar is still there, yes at the top. The burden you carrying since you made your debut at the age of 16 is simply enormous & you carried it in your own style.

People often ask me why I am your fan and the reply is quite simple - trust, personality and consistency. " You can not fix a match until and unless Sachin Tendulkar is out" This what a bookmaker said to CBI officers during the interrogation of match fixing scandal in 2000 and later accepted by the Team's doctor Dr. Ali Irani. In my opinion this is the best and most satisfying compliment. As a fan I can proudly quote this line among all cricket fans as no one in the entire cricketing world got this compliment. When you love someone you look for the trust and you proved every cricket fan in India that Sachin Tendulkar plays for the team so we can watch the entire match without considering how will others play as far as you are there on the crease, That's why in the 90's whenever you got out in any match people used to switch off their television.

Does this happen with any other player? And when talking about your personality there is no one in India as a celebrity who shown us the way how to live our lives even after getting success. Your on and off the field behavior is the one every fan look into his/her idol. . You're neither outspoken like the new aggressive youngsters (cricketers) nor like the bollywood celebrities who just for media attention do lots of nonsense. You shown us that success doesn't always get into your head until n unless you know how to handle it.. Now talking about consistency, we all know you have scored thousands of runs in both form of cricket. Its not the number of runs you scored, its because the quantity of runs you scored against all the opposition, for which we love you. You stared your carrier in 89 and you still playing with same hunger and passion. The whole bunch of under 19 world cup champion team not even born at that time and the day they won the world cup you were writing the script of one of the most famous victories of India in Sydney. Besides playing copy book strokes you invented few shots which now become a trend in ODI's and T-20, like the upper cut over the slips (which you 1st played against South Africa in 2001 off Kallis for a six) and the paddle sweep against the spinners(against Warme and all).
It's simply impossible to quote all your runs and innings which make everyone proud, be it Chappels or Manjrekars. But there is one inning which every cricket fan would love to talk about. The sand storm inning at Sharjah on 22nd April 1998. I can not forget that inning. I have the video of that inning and I always play it whenever I need inspiration. Yes you are source of inspiration too for me. This inning motivates me that whatever the situation is, whether you're alone or not you can always succeed How to cope with pressure situation, hope and determination is key to success and you can win. The inning motivates me so much that its hard to put in words.

The way you single handedly pushed the team into the finals was amazing, And when Tony Greg was shouting like anything "Sachin Tendulkar wants to win this match " , it made me felt like there's one man army playing against the 11 players and 2 umpires. You have been known as the one man army in the 90's as no one gave you enough support and you lot of matches just by your majestic performance. Dada,Wall and VVS were new to international cricket and the old champs were retiring (and few were involved in match fixing). India can't loose a match if Sachin Tendulkar is on the crease. This feeling is still there even in the 2000 when you have enough support of Yuvi, Dhoni, Uttapha . There is no certainty whether they will win the match if they will be the last batsman on the crease.
During the opening ceremony of IPL when Ravi Shastri was inviting the captains for special signature, the 50K crowd cheering for their heroes. But the biggest cheer was not for the local boy Dravid , neither it was for the India's most successful captain Ganguly, nor it was for the 20-20 world cup champion caption Dhoni (who is known as the new generation hero) and not for the sixer king Yuvraj. After Ravi Shashti called Warne on the stage the crowd gone crazy and started chanting "Sachin Sachin" even though Yuvraj, Sehwag and Laxman were yet to be called. After the crowd started chanting your name it was impossible to hear what Ravi was announcing from the stage, and when Ravi was about to call your name, the crowd gone mad and the biggest roar of the night came when Ravi called you Boss but we (consider your fan all around the world) call you God. The response of the crowd showed that no one is bigger icon than you, though the biggest filmstars and business tycoons were also present their. No one can even come closer to your status.

And its all because you won single handedly almost all the matches in the 90's. You may not have six 6's in a over or two triple centuries or a world cup trophy still you are above all these guys, just because the way you played cricket and me closer to your status. And its all because you won single handedly almost all the matches in the 90's. You may not have six 6's in a over or two triple centuries or a world cup trophy still you are above all these guys, just because the way you played cricket and carried yourself all these years. You always replied with your bat against all your critics whether they are stupid former cricketers who barks on tv channels or the columnist like Manjrekar who one day says that India will not miss Sachin Tendulkar in the latest Ahmedabad test (because we have triple centurion Sehwag and co) and later saying that India missed Sachin because you the only Indian player (other than Dravid) who can bat on such a deadly track. The electronic media, former cricketers and columnist like Manjrekars totally depend on your performance. They earn on your success and failure, they sell their views and columns on your success and failure.
As a fan my only expectation from you is that you should be a part of World Cup Champion team( which you were almost in 2003). I don't want a triple hundred or 6 sixes in an innings or breaking the record of Saeed Anwar in ODI of highest individual score , and you know why? Because its your dream. I read and heard many times in your interviews that winning the World Cup for India is your ultimate dream and so as of your fans. If you some day get time to surf internet please try to login into Orkut website. You will find many crazy fans like me. As a cricketer your community is the biggest community in orkut . Around 4 lakh guys are the member of your community. And I am one of them. I have been known as SACH Is LIFE !!! in the community and among my friends in Orkut.

Even my 1st email id is on your name and score (tendulkar_186@yahoo.com)
Wishing you all the best for IPL tournament (may be there is a case of city loyalty, but when it comes to Sachin Tendulkar, the support will be 100% for you where-ever you play, and we will teach people like Raj Thackrey that Sachin Tendulkar belongs to whole India and not only to Maharashtra., like he feel as a proud marathi). I am waiting for the match Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Dare Devils on 24th may. I will be present in the stadium with my friends and will cheer for you and your team and wish that your team win the match and the tournament (although Delhi is my Karm Bhumi)
Wishing you a very Happy and Blasting Birthday. Enjoy your birthday and keep playing till 2011 world cup and win it for the entire nation. Thanks for all the inspiration and motivation and famous Indian victories. All the Best for future. Bye and take care.

Your Ardent Fan
SACH Is LIFE !!!
Ritesh

swinging fortunes in the IPL

So far the IPL hasn't been very predictable. thanx to the great comebacks from Delhi daredevils and rajasthan royals. There was a lot of hype around the deccan chargers when they buzzed the world with huge signings like Symmonds,Afridi,Gibbs,all of which are known for their ruthless hitting.but they were largely inefficient which i feel is because of Laxman's lack of experience as captain. The kolkata knight riders have an impressive bowling attack even without the rawalpindi express. They have set the flame and a very high benchmark of hitting standards. infact its wrong when i say they because even his teammates were a mere audience and could only support him. Yes, i am talking about Brendon Mc.cullum. Bangalore ,however, did not create any sensation by winning ;). I should say they would make a better test side. Mohali hasn't lived upto the expectations with a strong batting lineup. Chennai super kings stated off very well with consecutive wins under lucky person Dhoni, but with Hayden and Hussey out of the side to play for their home country the side looks depleted. Delhi 's batting seems largely banked on the likes of gambhir and sehwag.

after a few matches of what looked to be a formidable batting lineup, Delhi has shown that its line up is as vulnerable as any of the other teams,only that sehwag and gambhir haven't provided the middle order any chance to show their weaknesses by through the 20 overs all by themselves. hardly had the other teams had a look at the others' batting performance.

kolkata seemed to me as a one match wonder. brendon mc cullum could not produce another blistering knock,not even a decent knock. And with Brendon gone for series against england their problems seem to be aggravated. despite two of their bowlers being among the best averaged bowlers in the tournament, they faced defeats in their last three encounters. thats enough to explain how ineffective their batting is. Ganguly at the top of the order not being among the runs so far troubles the team very much.

chennai were very impressive in their first few games when everyone contributed to the total. So they were able to manage with a weak bowling. i donno whether hey lost their morale when hayden and hussey were out of team on their country's cause, that runs have dried up ever since.now with Ntini in the team they have a better bowling and should do well.

hmm.. yet another one

Am running out of ideas to write anything on the blog, infact got none :D. so got to stick with the previous post's subject until i find one :)

another method of hiding folders.. purposes served not one but two. one is obvious and the other one is ease of retrieval.here is how it goes(/n) :

this time its not only folders that am talking about but files as well. the result is you do not end up going to the folder options, select show hidden files,but, u simply access the file or folder through a simple command in run.

select the file(note that here on file can be file/folder in this post), right click over it and select create shortcut. rename the shortcut to something u easily remember and do not have trouble typing.now cut the shortcut and paste it in the :\windows\system32 folder.thats all. we are done with half the job.now right click over the file/folder go to properties and check hidden.we are done :).

now if the folder/file is still visible then go to folder options and check do not show hidden files or folder under view tab.save and apply the settings. now click start on the taskbar and open run and type in the shortcut you have named a step ago and press enter.u will see your folder the way it was.

after doing this you skip the irksome part of changing the folder options everytime u want to view the folder.enjoy your hiding :)

hiding folders, a good method

i wanna tell some handy tips in my blogs here-after. these tips apply on windows-xp and can work on vista and other OS' that are from windows family.

here is the first one:

hiding folders: in steps

1).select the folder u wanna hide by clicking it once

2).rename the folder by right clicking and selecting rename or simply pressing f2 button on the keyboard.

3).now keep the alt key pressed and type 0160 from the number pad.
note:numbers 0160 should be typed from the numpad only.

4).now press enter or click the empty space in the window.
by now the name should have gone. right?
we have to do this because windows does not accept unnamed files or names with only spaces.

5).then right click the folder u desire to be hidden and select properties and then select the customize tab in the properties window.then select change icon and select among the icons, the one right to what appears like a lock i.e an empty space like icon and then apply changes.

by now if everything has gone fine your folder becomes invisible.

if the folder is in the middle of a page then hiding it by this method looks weird because there appears a blank space in the window.in order to come over that we can do one thing. deselect the autoarrange option in the window and drag the folder to the end of the page.

if at all any problem implementing this post a comment i will address ur comment in the next post or update this.

my first blog

Now that I am preparing for GRE, I would try to improve my issue essay writing skills here rather than putting them on paper. Although I planned to give the exam late this summer, i dont think i have enough time to prepare for it, owing to the facts that I will be given assignments and projects this semester and they will be nothing like easy to do. Moreover there are tests here and there all through the semester to make me restless. now, i joined a preparation course for GRE.
If someone asks me whether it does any good taking up the GRE course i would be in no position to answer as i have'nt tasted any of good or bad so far. i suppose it depends on the way we take the course. for example when they first gave me the wordlists to prepare in my vacation for a test that was conducted the day i returned to college i was dumbstruck at the sight of the paper. the format of questions was completely unfamiliar to me as i simply mugged up some words, i could not zero in on any synonym for the meaning they asked me. then, i thought they should have said the approach in reading the wordlist beforehand. i still did'nt get what they were upto in giving these long wordlists without giving any idea how to prepare. is it that they thought we would get to know eventually or anything else!!
what good does it do to us learning all these english words?? and how does this help us do our masters in U.S etc ? some say we cannot understand what the professors say unless we learn quite a lot of these words. is every American adept with all these words? i dont think so!! and when it relates to understanding a professor's lecture then how come there be different cut offs for different universities? do the professors at higher rated universities speak in words that people cannot easily understand? they are'nt teaching english i suppose.. moreover there is a part namely quantitative section where in secondary school level mathematics is tested..i dont think thats very much necessary when the level of questions is so simple.
Anyway when they want some skills for doing masters we need to practice them. so better not think my way and think how to crack GRE!! :) all the best for me !!!!