it's been barely three months, and already the right click key on the touchpad doesn't press down properly. and according to dell, that's not a manufacturing defect but rather wear and tear, which is not covered by warranty. so according to dell, their computers are only built to last three months or less, after which if anything goes wrong, it must be you! this sucks! now to get it fixed i either have to pay Rs.8500 for a full warranty or Rs.1500+spare parts charge for a technician visit. all for a spring that probably costs ten rupees! and all this after spending rs.45000 just three months ago to get this laptop in the first place! :( dissatisfaction factor has never been higher!
Showing posts with label rant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rant. Show all posts
Tuesday, 25 August 2009
Sunday, 30 November 2008
Terror - the Aftermath
we are now looking for scapegoats to pin the blame on, and then to be able to forget about the whole matter. politicians' resignations are being asked for left, right and centre. will that solve anything? are there any good ones to replace the ones who are resigning? if anything, atleast the ones who resign show they have some conscience of some kind.
this is the kind of attack that is virtually impossible to stop, no matter which part of the world you happen to be in. these are fatalistic men, prepared to risk all, worked up to a frenzy by their belief in the injustice on their people for centuries. how will you battle them by making 2-3 politicians resign?
in my opinion, the thing to do is to have a better, more organized, more responsive central intelligence agency in the country that is dedicated to fighting terrorism. we need to not only have advance intelligence, we need somebody who will take it seriously and take appropriate action. it now appears there was prior knowledge of the attack on the taj, the planned entry by sea-routes and even mumbai as a target by armed gunmen. but nobody took any appropriate action, and hence we were not prepared. granted, it is probably hard to sift through all the false warnings and threats to get to the few that actually mean something - all the more reason to have a central intelligence agency!
alas, it seems there's no alternative but to increase spending on defence. it's such a pity, because we really need the money to be spent on our nation's development. the terrorists are targeting the strongest nations with a clear agenda - bring down the superpowers, reduce all to the mess that their own nations are in. why don't u spend all that time and energy in making your nations better instead? a**holes!
just heard some good news on bbc - the Indian PM has actually set up a central intelligence agency that will deal exclusively with terrorism, and has augmented the forces involved in anti-terrorist operations. he also mentioned that this is the time for all political parties to rise above petty political differences and present a united front against this unprecedented threat. bravo, mr. manmohan, you do us proud!
this is the kind of attack that is virtually impossible to stop, no matter which part of the world you happen to be in. these are fatalistic men, prepared to risk all, worked up to a frenzy by their belief in the injustice on their people for centuries. how will you battle them by making 2-3 politicians resign?
in my opinion, the thing to do is to have a better, more organized, more responsive central intelligence agency in the country that is dedicated to fighting terrorism. we need to not only have advance intelligence, we need somebody who will take it seriously and take appropriate action. it now appears there was prior knowledge of the attack on the taj, the planned entry by sea-routes and even mumbai as a target by armed gunmen. but nobody took any appropriate action, and hence we were not prepared. granted, it is probably hard to sift through all the false warnings and threats to get to the few that actually mean something - all the more reason to have a central intelligence agency!
alas, it seems there's no alternative but to increase spending on defence. it's such a pity, because we really need the money to be spent on our nation's development. the terrorists are targeting the strongest nations with a clear agenda - bring down the superpowers, reduce all to the mess that their own nations are in. why don't u spend all that time and energy in making your nations better instead? a**holes!
just heard some good news on bbc - the Indian PM has actually set up a central intelligence agency that will deal exclusively with terrorism, and has augmented the forces involved in anti-terrorist operations. he also mentioned that this is the time for all political parties to rise above petty political differences and present a united front against this unprecedented threat. bravo, mr. manmohan, you do us proud!
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Terror strikes Mumbai
the madness is unbelievable. so many killed, so many injured. and after 12 hours, the nightmare still continues, with hostage situations in both Taj and Oberoi hotels. kill the motherfuckers!!! kill them dead!!! i am raging and grieving for my people, i want to be back home as soon as possible. i'm worried where this will lead. how long will these terror strikes continue? will it become a full-fledged war situation? just when my country was doing so well! maybe that's the reason india's being singled out in this way. maybe that's what's motivating these bastards - jealousy of what they cannot achieve. and we're an easy target anyway, with our large, poor and susceptible population and geographical location. why does a human being fall prey to extremist mindwashing anyway? isn't there any innate sense or logic or humanity inside him? there has to be something inside him that wants to kill and murder and inflict pain and grief and terror. i blame the ones that hold the guns as much as the brains behind the ones that hold the guns. they deserve everything that's coming to them. i hope our army finds and shoots each and every one of those fucking god-playing hostage-taking bastards, and tortures the rest beyond human belief. retaliate!!! WE REFUSE TO LIVE IN FEAR!!!
Monday, 24 November 2008
dostana - not gay and not proud
if you thought that here's finally a movie that treats homosexuality in a sensitive and sensible way, think again. firstly, the guys must have said about a million times in the movie that they are not gay, they are only pretending so that they can get an apartment and a green card. now we all know u don't get green cards faster if u're a gay couple, but that's typical hindi movie fluff so who cares. in fact, after proposition h8, who knows if they get it at all now? but when ideas start getting stolen from english movies and serials, that's so much worse! making abhishek and john stand in a public loo in adjoining stalls and having a guy walk in on them would remind u of a F.R.I.E.N.D.S episode where chandler gets his clothes stolen by julia roberts for revenge (Season 2, Episode 13 - The One After the Superbowl: Part 2). the faces collage that priyanka thinks up as a new layout for her magazine is so stolen from 13 going on 30 that it's not even funny! they dint make much of it in this movie, but if u saw the original, u'd spot it right away! john even shot the people holding frames!!! and who knows how many more ideas were stolen, just from movies we haven't seen yet! and here we thought bollywood was finally coming to maturity. shame, karan and tarun, shame!!!!
i really thought we'd see a movie about two guys who fall in love, maybe something along the lines of brokeback mountain, a truly gay couple, finally a breakthrough in hindi movies! but no, this made in fact a mockery of the whole community. boman could not have acted more cliched if he tried, and john and abhishek keep saying they're not gay, and in fact fall in love with a woman. they do have the first guy-guy lip-lock (all camera angles, no actual touching), but again the motivation is clearly a woman.
and apart from all that, it's not even a good movie!!! it drags and drags, the jokes are old, kirron's part sucks and is even more of a cliche than boman's, and i seriously do not know what sushmita mukherji was doing in the movie. frankly, the movie was so bad that it even made bobby deol look good in comparison!!! very disappointing.
i really thought we'd see a movie about two guys who fall in love, maybe something along the lines of brokeback mountain, a truly gay couple, finally a breakthrough in hindi movies! but no, this made in fact a mockery of the whole community. boman could not have acted more cliched if he tried, and john and abhishek keep saying they're not gay, and in fact fall in love with a woman. they do have the first guy-guy lip-lock (all camera angles, no actual touching), but again the motivation is clearly a woman.
and apart from all that, it's not even a good movie!!! it drags and drags, the jokes are old, kirron's part sucks and is even more of a cliche than boman's, and i seriously do not know what sushmita mukherji was doing in the movie. frankly, the movie was so bad that it even made bobby deol look good in comparison!!! very disappointing.
Sunday, 16 November 2008
gay and proud!
my entire world is buzzing with proposition 8 right now - indignant people (gay and straight) speaking out against this huge step backward. in a world where more and more countries are considering legalizing homosexuality, here is arguably one of the most developed states in one of the most developed countries of the world agreeing to make it illegal. it's such a pity. coming from a developing nation like mine, i hear all the time about my retrogressive and orthodox society. so i look towards the west to lead the way forward, towards a more liberal and intelligent world, and i hope that some day my country will adopt those standards as well. and then when the west takes a step like this, it doesn't just let down the homosexual community of their country, it lets down the whole world. this is just as bad as re-electing bush, people!!! some day you're gonna regret it, but how're you gonna make up for the decades of frustration you put people through???
some people believe homosexuality is a sham, that you choose to be gay. it's not really true. scientists have discovered actual genes in your system that can determine your sexual orientation! homosexuality has been around since recorded history, and who knows what happened before that? given the amount of grief people go through just because of their homosexual orientation, don't you think they would give it up if they could??? we have to learn to accept that it's as natural as heterosexuality!
it's all about love, man! you can't help who you fall in love with. and you sure as hell shouldn't try and restrict it just cos it ain't like yours. if two people are in love, they've got just as much right to spend their lives together as anybody else, and ain't nobody gonna tell them different.
i'm pro-choice, and proud of it!
some people believe homosexuality is a sham, that you choose to be gay. it's not really true. scientists have discovered actual genes in your system that can determine your sexual orientation! homosexuality has been around since recorded history, and who knows what happened before that? given the amount of grief people go through just because of their homosexual orientation, don't you think they would give it up if they could??? we have to learn to accept that it's as natural as heterosexuality!
it's all about love, man! you can't help who you fall in love with. and you sure as hell shouldn't try and restrict it just cos it ain't like yours. if two people are in love, they've got just as much right to spend their lives together as anybody else, and ain't nobody gonna tell them different.
i'm pro-choice, and proud of it!
Monday, 15 September 2008
under threat
this is a sad day. my country is under repeated attacks from idiots who believe they're achieving something by killing little children. it is hard not to be filled with rage and helplessness. it is hard not to rant on and on about the uselessness and pointlessness of it all. the ones who do it are not listening. will they ever realize that this is not the answer?
Monday, 14 January 2008
Einstein spoke, and it was so...
One of the smartest men in the history of mankind spoke thus:
"How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people -- first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving..." - Albert Einstein
Why are we on this earth? Why do we have no clue if we have a purpose or a destiny to fulfil? We can believe whatever we choose to believe, make of this life whatever we wish, and die not knowing any better than what we were born with - is there a larger purpose to our existence? I suppose in a way life is an end in itself - experience makes it worthwhile. Fall in love, have kids, walk the magical path of sensual exploration. And then die??? Ashes to ashes, dust to dust??? It's like training a resource for months and, just when he's fully trained and ready to work, firing him! I guess that's why we like to believe in our immortal souls, to convince ourselves that our actions have some larger, eternal significance.
Perhaps the idea is that one particular individual is not significant, but the work of mankind adds up over the centuries and results in progress. So many great scientific minds have expressed gratitude for the shoulders of the giants they stand upon every time they switch on a lightbulb! Yes, that is true - if it weren't for men far more gifted than I who have gone before me, my life would not be what it is today. I take it for granted, shrug my shoulders, and pass on my two bits to the next generation, but if you think for a bit, you are benefitting from other men's genius without having done anything to deserve it! Are we really just bricks in the wall, who slowly fall in place so that other bricks may lay on us? Then why do we have ego, self-consciousness, self-love? It seems like such a wasteful and redundant emotion in such a marvellously cost-effective world!
Perhaps it is as Einstein says - we can get glimpses of true purpose in a smile on a beloved face. We do our best according to our lights, and that's all there is to it. Perhaps it doesn't mean much to the universe, but the way we're constructed, if we've got love in our hearts and a song on our lips, it's pretty much all we asked for! :)
"How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people -- first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving..." - Albert Einstein
Why are we on this earth? Why do we have no clue if we have a purpose or a destiny to fulfil? We can believe whatever we choose to believe, make of this life whatever we wish, and die not knowing any better than what we were born with - is there a larger purpose to our existence? I suppose in a way life is an end in itself - experience makes it worthwhile. Fall in love, have kids, walk the magical path of sensual exploration. And then die??? Ashes to ashes, dust to dust??? It's like training a resource for months and, just when he's fully trained and ready to work, firing him! I guess that's why we like to believe in our immortal souls, to convince ourselves that our actions have some larger, eternal significance.
Perhaps the idea is that one particular individual is not significant, but the work of mankind adds up over the centuries and results in progress. So many great scientific minds have expressed gratitude for the shoulders of the giants they stand upon every time they switch on a lightbulb! Yes, that is true - if it weren't for men far more gifted than I who have gone before me, my life would not be what it is today. I take it for granted, shrug my shoulders, and pass on my two bits to the next generation, but if you think for a bit, you are benefitting from other men's genius without having done anything to deserve it! Are we really just bricks in the wall, who slowly fall in place so that other bricks may lay on us? Then why do we have ego, self-consciousness, self-love? It seems like such a wasteful and redundant emotion in such a marvellously cost-effective world!
Perhaps it is as Einstein says - we can get glimpses of true purpose in a smile on a beloved face. We do our best according to our lights, and that's all there is to it. Perhaps it doesn't mean much to the universe, but the way we're constructed, if we've got love in our hearts and a song on our lips, it's pretty much all we asked for! :)
Thursday, 6 December 2007
vague unrest
there really should be more fonts to write with without having to know HTML! how on earth do i use bradley hand ITC, for instance? that's what i wanna use to say what i wanna say!
so many people are doing so many good things with their lives. real, useful lives. i chose to give up my job and follow my husband to norway on the principle that it's impossible for two people in today's world to remain together and still have perfect, A-class careers. i don't mistrust that decision - being with the man i love is my number one priority and when there are such choices to be made, it's all a matter of priorities. but i'm used to working all the time, and this empty time on my hand just hangs... so heavily! there's a vague unrest in my gut all the time because i'm used to being out there, doing it, and not just sitting at home spending each day in a sort of daze, trying to be a good wife by urging myself to cook but failing to motivate myself to get up, and then feeling guilty about it all.
it's easy to say, get out there and do it! fact is, it's tough to get back on track once u've derailed a lil bit. i know i could be out there discovering this beautiful new city, going to museums, going for walks, doing SOMETHING! but fact is, it's sub-zero out there, and man i feel cold! :) so i just huddle in front of a telly all day and feel like jumping on the sofa by the time it's evening, i've got so much pent-up energy in me which doesn't wanna get spent on household chores.
i can't be like the other indian wives here, who seem to be so content in helping their mates to save the maximum amount of money by never spending a dime on looking pretty or having a good time, cooking every meal at home and dutifully folding up their desires into small lace napkins waiting to be unwrapped and lived when back home in india. i want to live now!!! but a part of me also wants to save some money so we can have a better life when we get home, which was kinda the whole point why we came out here in the first place. that, and seeing europe!
resolve for the day: nice, long walk tomorrow! donno how i'll manage with dryer duty - stupid dryer that needs to be reset every 20 minutes, or it keeps incessantly beeping, and u have to sit on its head for nearly 3-4 hours to get all the clothes done, one day in every week. ridiculous to imagine that this is supposed to be a labour-saving device, and yet it ties me down more effectively than a wood stove would have done!!! when i have enough money, i'll have a machine that does the washing AND the drying, quietly, without complaining, and then sits quietly with the clothes till i'm ready to come back home and take 'em out. when i have enough money...
is there any such thing? enough money, i mean? there's never enough, is there? today it's just me and my hubby and we run short of all our dreams, guess what it'll be tomorrow with lil kids and all their bills to be paid!!! fact is, it's a consumer market, there are more things out there than you will ever be able to buy or even need, and there will always be something fabulously beautiful that you'll burn your heart over not being able to buy! that's what the world economy survives on!!! more than enough for every man's greed, but where's the money?
are you free because you read books on people working in the gulf war, set "free as a bird" as your mobile phone ring tone, write blogs when you feel restless and spend your days hoping to achieve your goals tomorrow? always tomorrow...
tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life... what does that mean??????? it's the stupidest thing i ever heard. is that supposed to motivate me? is that the flag-bearer of a new and rosy dawn? grrrr!
"blackbirds singing in the dead of night... take these broken wings and learn to fly! all your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arrive! ... you were only waiting for this moment to be free!" the beatles gave me soul-words.
so many people are doing so many good things with their lives. real, useful lives. i chose to give up my job and follow my husband to norway on the principle that it's impossible for two people in today's world to remain together and still have perfect, A-class careers. i don't mistrust that decision - being with the man i love is my number one priority and when there are such choices to be made, it's all a matter of priorities. but i'm used to working all the time, and this empty time on my hand just hangs... so heavily! there's a vague unrest in my gut all the time because i'm used to being out there, doing it, and not just sitting at home spending each day in a sort of daze, trying to be a good wife by urging myself to cook but failing to motivate myself to get up, and then feeling guilty about it all.
it's easy to say, get out there and do it! fact is, it's tough to get back on track once u've derailed a lil bit. i know i could be out there discovering this beautiful new city, going to museums, going for walks, doing SOMETHING! but fact is, it's sub-zero out there, and man i feel cold! :) so i just huddle in front of a telly all day and feel like jumping on the sofa by the time it's evening, i've got so much pent-up energy in me which doesn't wanna get spent on household chores.
i can't be like the other indian wives here, who seem to be so content in helping their mates to save the maximum amount of money by never spending a dime on looking pretty or having a good time, cooking every meal at home and dutifully folding up their desires into small lace napkins waiting to be unwrapped and lived when back home in india. i want to live now!!! but a part of me also wants to save some money so we can have a better life when we get home, which was kinda the whole point why we came out here in the first place. that, and seeing europe!
resolve for the day: nice, long walk tomorrow! donno how i'll manage with dryer duty - stupid dryer that needs to be reset every 20 minutes, or it keeps incessantly beeping, and u have to sit on its head for nearly 3-4 hours to get all the clothes done, one day in every week. ridiculous to imagine that this is supposed to be a labour-saving device, and yet it ties me down more effectively than a wood stove would have done!!! when i have enough money, i'll have a machine that does the washing AND the drying, quietly, without complaining, and then sits quietly with the clothes till i'm ready to come back home and take 'em out. when i have enough money...
is there any such thing? enough money, i mean? there's never enough, is there? today it's just me and my hubby and we run short of all our dreams, guess what it'll be tomorrow with lil kids and all their bills to be paid!!! fact is, it's a consumer market, there are more things out there than you will ever be able to buy or even need, and there will always be something fabulously beautiful that you'll burn your heart over not being able to buy! that's what the world economy survives on!!! more than enough for every man's greed, but where's the money?
are you free because you read books on people working in the gulf war, set "free as a bird" as your mobile phone ring tone, write blogs when you feel restless and spend your days hoping to achieve your goals tomorrow? always tomorrow...
tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life... what does that mean??????? it's the stupidest thing i ever heard. is that supposed to motivate me? is that the flag-bearer of a new and rosy dawn? grrrr!
"blackbirds singing in the dead of night... take these broken wings and learn to fly! all your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arrive! ... you were only waiting for this moment to be free!" the beatles gave me soul-words.
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