Where is Bangalore?

I was once proud to boast about my knowledge about Bangalore, untill I came across this site. Check it out. Nowhere else will you get such a comprehensive compilation of info about Bangalore. Click on the link below,


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore

Micro-processing, redefined!!!

Hey guys, check out these new line of processors. They are all set to redefine the future of computing.

Mr. Pete Jha, an adjunct professor , under whom I am a Teaching Assistant, gave me this information. He works for Sun, and has been working on this project for the past three years. He is a cool customer, ready with an answer for any technology related question. I consider myself lucky to be associated with him.

The Gigahertz race is dead, not just over. You may have noticed, Intel has stopped bragging about its processors' clock-speeds for a long time now. No, I'm neither talking about my favourite AMD processors. True, AMD revolutionized desktop computing with their dual-core and 64-bit processors. That probably sparked off the multi-core processor race. The processors I'm talking about are Sun's upcoming Niagara processor family - the Sun Fire T1000 and Sun Fire T2000.

They come in 8-core and 16-core flavours. The average Joe will also be able to afford lower-end versions with 4 and 6 cores. This is not something of the far future. They are gonna be available by the end of this year. Whats more, if Intel talked about Hyperthreading with two threads on the chip, these processors have four threads on a core. Thats 16 virtual processors on a 4-core chip and 32 virtual processors on an 8-core chip.

If you thought 56-bit key DES and 128-bit key encryptions were hard to break through, THINK AGAIN. You don't need to run a distributed application to break the encryption now. A single box with Niagara inside will suffice.

Apart from this, there can be multiple processor slots on a main-board, with a multi-core processor in each. That gives a new dimension to processing speed. Now, would you still justify the need for a distributed system?

However, if you are interested, you can read more at

Sun's Niagara: speeds and feeds emerge -

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/09/niagara_many_cores/

Sun has at least 1GHz of Niagara Viagra -

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/07/sun_niagara_details/

A day at the Pacific Beach area

Sunday, the 21st of Aug, 05:
We guys successfully made it to the Pacific Beach. It is a cool place. Smooth currents, gentle breeze and humidity-free air. My initial speculation was that the popular TV show Baywatch was shot in these beaches. I haven't been able to find out yet whether it is really the Baywatch spot.

We enjoyed a cool dip in the chilling waters of the pacific. The beach is a very popular one, really. Visitors in hundreds and thousands throng the area everyday, from all over the world. A dip in the icy water followed by a sun-bath under the bright hot sun on a clear-sky day is the best recepie for picking up a tan quickly.

The beach is a hot-spot for surfers. I've refrained from publishing any photos that include surfers, as it might offend certain audiences. People of all ages visit the beach. You could see a 6-8yr old getting into the water alone, with a surf-board. The only thing I regretted about was my lack of confidence in my ability to swim.

The photo to the left shows me enjoying a sit on a Harley Davidson. Wonder whose bike it was, I had to make a quick move before the owner appeared on the scene. It is common to find a few such high-priced bikes here and there all around the city. They just ride bikes for passion. Every owns atleast ONE car here.(Click on the images for a larger view)

The next photo was taken at the Hare Krishna Temple close to the Pacific Beach. The temple was constructed and is maintained by ISKCON, India. When we were there, there was a rehearsal of a skit going on, in preparation for the upcoming Krishna Janmashtrami(Celebration of Lord Krishna's birthday). At the end it was a fun-filled day. We could not expect more fun and happiness on a single day, at a place so far away from home.

My Roomies

Here are my roomies(one missing, the guy clicking the foto). Its fun to have so many at home- 2 fom Karnataka(including me), one bengali, one jain from Tamil Nadu and three gujjus. Clockwise from top: Me, Vikas, Kunal, Nuthan, Vishal, Sameer and finally Debejyo, the photographer.

The other end of the city. behind the dorms
Photography by Shyam Kumar

The college dorms
Photography by Shyam Kumar

Pathway to the college dorms
Photography by Shyam Kumar

Scenic backdrop, seen from the hanging bridge
Photography by Shyam Kumar

Life in the fast lane,... under the hanging bridge
Photography by Shyam Kumar

Over the hanging bridge
Photography by Shyam Kumar

Hanging pedestrian bridge connecting college dorms n the other end of the city
Photography by Shyam Kumar

Yet another food court
Photography by Shyam Kumar

The Aztec Center(Shops, restaurants, coffee shops,...)
Photography by Shyam Kumar

Thats me at the Aztec center
Photography by Shyam Kumar

Way to the Library entrance
Photography by Shyam Kumar

Another pathway n the student services center
Photography by Shyam Kumar

The Library(entrance). Just 1/100 in size of the entire library area
Photography by Shyam Kumar

A path way
Photography by Shyam Kumar

A lawn for relaxing
Photography by Shyam Kumar

Turtles on a rock in the pool
Photography by Shyam Kumar

Turtles around the pool
Photographs by Shyam Kumar

Pool in the campus
Photographs by Shyam Kumar

Beginning a new life...

Beginning a new life . I'm here, to do a Masters in Computer Science . I reached this paradise-on-earth on August 5th, 2005.
I received a great deal of help from the Indian Student Association . One Mr. Sandip Bharati offered me airport pickup. Thanks Sandip, for that ride. He's a cool guy, soft-spoken.
A group of four students of Punjabi origin offered me temporary accomodation. These guys are amazing. I consider myself lucky to have been offered accomodation by them. Friendly and always communicating, they put me at ease the instant I stepped into their house. Thank you very much guys.
The city offers so much. Google yourself to see more...

First step

Hi all,
Finally, after much hesitation, I did start blogging. I dont yet know, if this activity will help me gain any knowledge(as Rohit of Aztec Software & Technology Services Ltd., Bangalore, pointed out) or I'll just be killing time. Sridhar(currently in Syracruse University) was an inspiration for my initial hesitation. You can find his words at http://codeyman.blogspot.com. I'm sorry, Sridhar Kutti, but after hearing your views on blogging, thats how I felt.
Someday, I just felt, blogging is one good way to express one's feelings and thoughts, immaterial of what the blogger gains. Mr. Ramesh Jain's blog was what changed my idea about blogs. Its one good example of how technical know-how can be shared.
So, here I am, this is me(sorry Brian Adams, for using those words), and welcome to my blog.