In Ireland...

I stepped into Ireland on 9th September 2013. I still remember how the sky looked - serene, innocent, warm exuberance and jiggling laughter all rolled into one. The slight chill added the tinge of suspense and perhaps a pointer of the good things to come. The the years of despair, months of struggle and the days of hope all came to a good ending when I stepped on the soil of Dublin. It has been over two months now and I have come to appreciate what this fantastic place has to offer to an alien. I should say it was love at first sight. The architecture, civic sense, bustling activity and awesome landscapes are indeed a sight to be seen. No wonder, the influx of tourists never ceases!
    Being accepted to Trinity College Dublin was a dream come true. I received this wonderful news around the 3rd week of June 2013 and had no words to express. My parents said they haven't seen me this happy for quite some time :-)  All the time that I spent checking out Google Maps about TCD was indeed true. Thanks to Google for enriching our lives with great access to information! I am simply in love with the college and what it has to offer. The support for students everywhere is overwhelming. The range of activities, enormous. The things to get done, gigantic. 24 hours just seem to whizz away soooo soooonnnn. In fact, I started losing track of time that I spent in college and finishing of course work. It just seems like a few minutes away. And it is not just me. It is the case of each and every student here. Everyone is so involved and so intensely focused on what they do, that they are empowered on their own to achieve the best. They set lofty goals that they attain. They dare to dream big. They dare to soar. They dare to challenge the invincible. This experience of reaching deep into your soul, experiences and life's knowledge is what education is all about. The innate curiosity that we had when we were kids and that was beaten to death with a hard club full of thorns is on its path to rebirth. The gentle nudge from the professors here to wander, seek and dig out the facts, figures and knowledge that is out there but just not thought about, surely expands one's vision. I could keep going on but I guess you get the point!
     One life changing experience that happened was, I came to know that I could cook!!!  Good gracious me :-)  I know what you are thinking. A self-professed geek who can cook. Not in a million years!  Yup, it is true in my case as it turns out. Secretly watching MasterChef on AXN had sowed some seeds of cooking recipes, instruments and creative edge. I have been experimenting with food for the last few months thanks to the facilities offered by Trinity Hall - the student accommodation  that is situated in Rathmines. 5 of us have a common kitchen with all amenities. We had to get the utensils though. That took some time hunting around different shops ultimately Euro2 and Dunnes satisfied my demands. Then it was time to show off. Made a few mashups and took pictures. Sent it home and waited fervently for feedback. Well turns out that it was a surprise for them too  :-D  Nothing beats the feeling of knowing how proud your family is about you. Now they are comforted in the knowledge that I can survive on cooked and clean food instead of drowning myself in junk.
     I was a bit laid back about blogging for some time now. I will start writing more in the coming days.  Watch out this space for more...

My Experiments with Microsoft Kinect SDK

Could sleep well yesterday night due to the excitement of downloading the SDK released for Microsoft Kinect by Microsoft Research. As soon as I got to lay hands on a Kinect device, I started checking for the statuses thrown by the system. I am using a x86, Win 7, dual-core, 2GB RAM system with VS 2010 Express edition installed. This configuration matches with the requirements provided in the pre-requisites list as well.

I downloaded the SDK yesterday night, installed it and started going through the samples. Saw a lot of code for image processing being done. Once I got the Kinect, I plugged in the device. A lot of driver installation happened automatically which took about a min and a half. Once done, I got the below.

Now you can see something new called "Kinect USB Audio". This points to the microphone array.

The Device Manager from Control Panel was more interesting. Check the below screenshot.

As you can see there is a whole new set of devices being added under the section called "Microsoft Kinect" namely Audio, Camera and Device.

I then tried the default skeletal viewer program from the samples directory. The app runs in WPF and .NET framework 4.0

This is a pretty good output considering the fact that the SDK is a beta preview :)

The best part is, installation was a breeze. Just use the installer that comes along and plug-in your Kinect device. By the way, I had the split cable for Kinect which has a USB 2.0 output. Also the installer size is just 21MB.

US Technology beckons.............

Well, this month has started with a surprise! In fact I got my date of joining for US Technology on the 1st. It was really surprising that only I got the doj from my college. I would have loved to have my friends join along with me. It would have been fun and not that much lonely. Guess I would have to fight it out myself without my friends..................

Against Smoking - Just give it a thought

I got this pics from a guy called Shiva. He is my friend in orkut. I am indebted to him for posting such really good pics and for campaigning against smoking. Great work pal.................

Many consider smoking one of the coolest things anyone can do,some smoke because they want to be stylish, some smoke because they think it is a sign of maturity i.e. grownupness, and some start it just because they are attracted to it......
Today, it is a fact that more than 1,000,000 people fall prey to death because of smoking and smoking related illnesses.

Cigarette smoking increases the risk for many types of cancer, including cancers of the lip, oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, pancreas, larynx (voice box), lung, uterine cervix, urinary bladder, and kidney.

Hope you got the message!

On an average, smokers die 13 to 14 years earlier than non-smokers

Nothing to beat this weapon..................

Take a look at the above picture. Notice the how the body functions are affected.....

Lung Cancer is one of the major consequences of smoking. Imagine being in pain even to take a breath of air!

Your gateway to hell.............

Isn't there some truth in it?

Break free from this prison...................

Please set a good example for children. You cant correct them just by advising them. They need a role model to emulate......................

Quite right. Point taken.

YOUR AGE BY EATING OUT

Man, this is real fun! Hope u like this one.......................

Don't tell me your age; you probably would tell a falsehood anyway-but your waiter may know!


YOUR AGE BY DINER & RESTAURANT MATH


This is pretty neat.

DON'T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST!
It takes less than a minute .
Work this out as you read .
Be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked it out!
This is not one of those waste of time things, it's fun.

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to go out to eat.
(more than once but less than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1757 .....
If you haven't, add 1756.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.


You should have a three digit number


The first digit of this was your original number
(I.e., how! Many times you want to go out to restaurants in a week.)

The next two numbers are

YOUR AGE! (Oh YES).

Caught you off guard, didn't it? Pass it onto your friends..........

US Technology => Grandha '07 pics

This pics were send by Hari from US Technology. Many thanks to him for that! Keep sending.......

US Technology and Technopark Pics - Part 2