Assignments, Deadlines and hectic weeks of work!

How many of you experience those weeks which make you feel all worn out and longing for the weekend? I suppose everyone in every job faces this situation either when the workload becomes too much or if they are running behind deadlines which should have been met a long time ago. The former is manageable with a steady pace but the latter is what strikes fear into every worker's heart. Everyone loves the sound of deadlines which simply whoosh past you like the wind. Yes it would be great if all they did was blow past but unfortunately they go past and take us with them as well......right into oblivion.

One second we find ourselves frantically trying to outdo ourselves beyond our capacity to get that job done before the last minute ticks off and the next, you find yourself face to face with the ever terrifying possibility: it's time to face the music...err...the boss. These kind of meetings are often not pretty and leave people wishing that they had managed to finish their tasks ahead of their deadlines. Prior planning before starting a task is a good practice in order to prepare yourself for the obstacles ahead. The most important thing, however, is adapting the plan according to the situation as required. This will implement flexibility in your plans and allow you to overcome any difficulty without much effort.

Let's consider that I have a task (or an assignment) which I need to complete in approximately 5 days. The first step I would think of taking would be to break down the effort required into five portions, each comprising of 20% of the task. It would be better of course to plan for 4 days rather than five as it would enable you an extra day in case something goes wrong at the last moment. The next part I should concentrate on is, no prizes for guessing, concentration. It's really no use if I plan well and ahead for a task but instead end up not following it. It's as good as not planning at all. I feel that following these base guidelines would help people get started (if not get a clear idea about what they need to do) as it's the hardest thing to do. Once we get started, we find to our own surprise that we automatically travel to where we need/want to be.

So what do we need to succeed in our day to day tasks? All we need to do is quit sitting there planning for eternity and begin doing it with a base plan! Let the plan evolve with you, change with you and most of all adapt with you. And while you guys adapt to this, it's time for me to stop lazing around and return to the task at hand. Good Luck! :D

Transformers: The invisible car

No, no, no. I'm really not planning to actually bring out a sequel to the Transformers movies nor am I trying to create a fan-fictional story about it. We all love good sci fi stuff and those fancy gadgets never fail to impress us. We would love to have them implemented in real life don't we (except those mad blood thirsty human killing robots of course!)? I saw an "implementation" of that very thing in my life a few days back. Or should I say a rather "pretendable" way of bringing it to life.

A few days back I was traveling in a bus which was crowded so much that you would begin to wonder why you had suppressed that urge of waiting for the next bus when in reality, time was running out and you had to reach a place within a short amount of time. There was this certain middle aged individual who looked not too shabby but also wasn't dressed up as though he was having the time of his life over here. He had managed to secure a prized window seat and was chatting on his cellphone for a long time. The conductor was busy moving through the crowd with great difficulty and was yelling at people to buy their tickets if they hadn't gotten them already. Just another normal scene in a bus you would think. Correct. However, the cellphone guy wanted to make this day more than normal though.

The passenger sitting next to him wasn't exactly annoyed by his constant jabbering but it looked like he was reconsidering his decision of sitting next to him. When a little relief appeared in the form of the individual saying goodbye on the phone, it certainly turned out to be a blend of both relief and amusement. The middle aged fellow suddenly transformed into a mad scientist and said into his phone: "Alright then. It's a bit hard hearing your voice now that we've entered a heavy traffic zone. Besides I'm driving my car and it's hard to keep speaking. I'll call you when I reach home."

I wonder if I was shocked at that moment but the passenger sitting next to him certainly was. His incredulous looks at the other man went unnoticed (or perhaps ignored for the sake of maintaining his "image") as the person proceeded to keep his cellphone in his shirt pocket. I don't know about you guys but this is perhaps the first time I've seen a person elegantly transform a boring bus atmosphere into that of a cool airconditioned one of a luxurious car.
However, he does deserve a lot of credit for expelling the treacherous thing called boredom out of my mind for the rest of the journey. But this came with an added side effect as well: I was grinning stupidly till I reached my friend's house.

A new look, a new phase and a new post!

Whoa! It's been a long time (I think the word "ages" would fit better over here)since I decided to write a new post. Now I'm fairly aware that many people are initially enthusiastic about blogging but as time passes, the interest wears out after a while and in the end, those people forget that they had once started a blog. Very few survive in this process, most of them being already dedicated bloggers who used to keep a diary from time to time (Blogging is the digitized version of your very own diary but of course without your private stuff) and few being the newcomers in the area (with great determination of course). So where do I fall into this? You would have already guessed it from the difference in the gap in my post dates. I have never kept a diary in my life and I'am a newbie in the vast blogosphere.

Time passes fast. When I woke up today and visited my blog, I was indeed surprised to find that my previous post was done a year back! It's been somewhat of a wild ridefrom last year to today considering that I have finally landed a job in the Software Industry. My aim was to get into the Software sector of the IT industry and thank God (and goodness!) that it came true (I suppose I wouldn't mind going into other fields but then again, I think I would sleep through! I'm a B.E.ECE graduate by the way).

Training is going on over here which promises to shape me into a completely different individual at the end which I'm sure will happen. Alright then, I bid adieu to all of you with a new look on the blog and a new phase in my life!

The Indian Premier League is back!

So finally on April 18th we get to see IPL's second season.......on the TV. Yeah I know it's a bit depressing not having to support your team live from the ground but you can still show them your support on TV! If you are feeling like *cough* NOOO I HAVE TO BE THERE LIVE!!! *cough* then it's all nice and shiny provided you have the cash to shell out for a long trip to South Africa and the return ticket as well(Can't forget this lifesaver now can we? :D)
Still there are people who cannot afford or choose to watch from the comfort of their homes(Can't blame 'em, they have the comfort advantage) which works out well for most fans. I haven't been to a single cricket match since I was small(too small enough to barely know what cricket was) but I did want to go and feel what an IPL match is like. Too bad it had to be moved out of the country. Perhaps if IPL was given a seperate window by the ICC it MIGHT have been postponed and could have been held in India. Still IPL is IPL whereever it goes but as the Indian players remarked: The home crowd is THE home crowd!
The first season of the IPL was a huge success pitting players all over the world against their own teammates in a wonderful one and a half month fixture of matches. All matches were simply mindblowing and the Rajasthan Royals sure did live up to their word when Shane Warne said:"Watch us. We will bounce back." And boy bounce back they did! They bounced so hard that they ended up being the IPL champions! What's more......they didn't have a proper coach. This year they return, with renewed vigor and determination to be the champions all over again. Do I think they have a chance? Heck they have thousand times a chance! And so do other teams as well. A lot of changes has been made in all teams after looking back on their wins and losses so I believe this time it's gonna be closer and faster than you can say "WAIT WHAT?"

There are lots of clashes to be seen and the runs will start churning out like theres no tomorrow. So what are you waiting for? Oh wait....it does start on 18th so you have to wait! Gotta love PJs! :D

A Hibernation in progress!

Looks like it's been a long long time since I made a post over here(perhaps 2 to 3 months!) and to call it a break would make most laugh but hibernation would make most agree. ^_^
Lot's of things have happened as we know about the usual news making their way into our lives whether through mass media or through newspapers, Christmas celebrations and the end of the year 2008. Just like previous years, this one has it's own share of memorable moments as well as those horrifying moments of pain which made us come closer through the bridge leading to the wonderful character of humanity. The new year was welcomed by everyone but still the pain was ever persistent when we saw it strike early on new year's day. Many have suffered time and time again and yet people are a little hesitant to lead for themselves against that pain and support the phrase "Be the change". There are people however who have really done their part to lend a helping hand to the needy at the right time and some are recognized, some remain as unsung heroes of the nation. Let's hope that this new year 2009 brings not only resolutions for the good, but the real unity that is lacking amongst us.
The previous year also had it's own tale to tell about the financial woes which shook the very foundations of the world. The drop in markets around the world had a great impact not only on the IT industry but also in every nook and corner of all fields and led to many companies jumping into a "safe mode" of sorts by cutting down their usual recruitment numbers and existing jobs as well. This financial depression was given company by a distant cousin named "Inflation" which was the terror of every common man's effort to make daily ends meet. It will sure come down with time just like the financial crisis(also infamously known as the recession). However inflation seems to falling at a rate which would make most happy and most companies have started to recover slowly from the global downfall as well.
But let's not stick only with the troubled times for the winds of joy and excitement existed and will continue to exist in the future as well! In 2008 we had the variation of one of the most exciting formats of cricket, The Indian Premier League(abbreviated as the IPL). Cricket is best enjoyed in the normal 50 over formats and the classic test matches but the Twenty20 format brought home a whole new experience which drew in all kinds of people. Twenty20 created the atmosphere of fast paced thrilling matches with batsmen hitting all over the ground and bowlers hungering for that next big wicket. There was also the Olympics held in China which was a highlight in sporting events with talents from all over the world. The swimmer Michael Phelps broke through the rest of the competition to amaze the world with 8 gold medals! We had valuable performers in Abhinav Bindra who made India proud with his gold medal and boxers who fought with all their might to try and do their best.
All in all 2008 was an unpredictable mixture of sweet and sour.
I know people who are reading this post might think: "Hey this guy didn't even cover even half of the important stuff which happened in the last year!". I share your sympathies and would like to add that I haven't covered even 25% of stuff because it's a bit late here and I gotta sign off now. Let's wish for a much better 2009 in which everyone realises what they are supposed to do to make their lives peaceful and better. Adios! :)

Thanking you........yours virtually!

A lot of us have surely experienced the fun and frolic involved in video games(or should I say consoles for a better term for the current generation and the next) with our friends or against the ever eager-to-try-and-defeat-you Artificial Intelligence(AI). These games allow us to have a virtual feel of life such as commanding troops to shoot down the oncoming assault or getting your next mission to slay that pesky monster. So sharpen up your instincts and especially your determination! For here is a virtual enemy that doesn't like to lose no matter what (Unless of course you are toasted at it's first attempt to destroy you).
We have seen the evolution of games from the classic arcade games to the popular nintendo 8-bit entertainment system(Remember those hours spent on mario? Aww comeon you must have been really frustrated of not having a save game option if you played it right now :D) to the basic DOS games on PC(Ahh classics!) and finally here we are looking at a wide variety of games across various platforms! There are various genres including action,adventure,sports etc but I'm going to try and cover one genre which has taken the gaming world by storm before and still is doing that right now. It is known as MMORPG(Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game).
I won't go into the various MMO's as it is shortly referred to as right now. There are many of them and each one of them offers a different type of content which might attract certain types of users while others might prefer something else. This is because each person has a unique interest in different types of genres. MMOs generally offer a escape into a world filled with fun,other players,bad bad monsters,lag(Of course this is your first ever friend ^_^),still even more bad guys called bosses.......well you get the idea. One of the most important aspect of an MMORPG is its community. This is the reason why it is called as an MMO. If you would rather that you play alone rather than make friends and have even more fun socialising while playing the game, then well you are better off playing a offline game with only AI to stare at on the screen. Believe me it's much better and more fun to actually interact in a MMO.
I'm in India and this country has received the broadband type of connections a little later than other parts of the world. As you know broadband connections of atleast 256KBPS are required if you want to play an MMO smooth as it was intended to be played. The first ever MMOs here were Ragnarok and A3. I haven't played A3 but I have heard that it has amazing 3D graphics and all. Ragnarok well is completely different with 3D environments coupled with 2D style characters which look good as well. It's really fun playing the game as you start off from a basic character with nothing to lose and grow powerful one day, able to smash apart the big bad bosses themselves. The game is entirely built upon the levelling system which encourages the player to kill a lot of monsters and rewarding them with "levels" which enable the player to increase his abilities. All in all playing Ragnarok is fun but it can become so addictive that one day you might get up and scream "How in the world did one year go by?!!"
There are many other MMOs in the world. Some of the most popular ones right now are WoW(World of Warcraft), Age of Conan, Perfect World etc. Like I said each MMO offers different content, so one MMO may boast of many players with amazing graphics and gameplay while another may tell of a wonderful storyline with its own share of loyal players. Alright then I guess thats it for now. Just remember to keep a balance between the real world and the virtual world so that you don't get caught up in the virtual reality! Cyaz and have fun! ^_^

The Inevitable Writer's block (No I dont mean a building >.<)

As some of you must be wondering if I've gone mad looking at the unnecessary description given in the title then rest assured that I'am not! As many of you read novels and know a lot of writers, you must be knowing about the popular and yet infamous writer's block. In case you haven't come across it yet, I'll gladly explain with what little knowledge I have in the hope that you might be satisfied with it. ^_^
A case of writer's block is at large when an author is unable to write anything in his novel or proceed forward to another article. It generally means that either he doesn't get an idea or he is simply unable to bring himself to continue along the path the idea has laid out for him. The cause can be anything from personal preference to inability to implement the idea immediately. The cure? The only cure for this might be best to wait it out until you are comfortable to continue or probably do what I did in my case: force myself to write a post. :P
Yup you heard that right, I forced myself to break the long drought by writing this very post which you are reading right now! I couldn't get to post anything for about a month or so(as you would see if you compared the previous post's date with this one) which I did think was a little strange. I guess I was resigned to the fact that it was because I simply didn't get any suitable ideas to take the shape of a post. Still one month is a ridiculously long period for someone who is called a well...........semi-active blogger(:P). Just today I was having a conversation with one of my friends through instant messaging. I simply told him that I thought I might be having a case of the writer's block. He told that I might be right and he gave me a suggestion: "Why not title your next post as the writer's block?" This might be obvious to others but it just didn't strike me before this.
Ever since he said that, ideas sprang up into my mind for a new post: each daring the other one to go ahead of it as though they were fighting for utmost superiority. I really have to thank my friend for enabling me to finally break my "break" and for a new post written after a long time! Alright then people cyaz and have fun! Good luck! ^_^