Software Schedules...

Testosterone-crazed game companies like to brag on their web sites that the next game will ship "when it's ready". Schedule? We don't need no stinkin' schedule! We're cool game coders! Most companies don't get that luxury. Ask Lotus. When they first shipped 123 version 3.0, it required an 80286 computer, which wasn't very common then. They delayed the product by 16 months while they worked to shoehorn it into the 640K memory limit of the 8086. By the time they were done, Microsoft had a 16 month lead in developing Excel, and, in a great karmic joke, the 8086 was obsolete anyway! read more

Egypt: 13 Dec - 23 Dec 06

Am back from my 10 days vacation in Egypt. It was better than what I had imagined. I had a wonderful time there. Am sad that it's over - i haven't felt this way about any of my travels in a long time.

Egypt is beautiful and so full of history. This tour was like a walk down the memory lane of ancient Egypt. What amazed me more than the monuments itself, (which were all larger than life and awe-inspiring) is the deep-seeded belief /faith that inspired people to build such magnificent structures. Some of them like Karnak temple took centuries to build. It’s amazing!

My favorite memories of the trip are that of:
· Abu Simbel – Ramses II and Nefertari’s Temples by Lake Nasser. It showcases the great achievements of ancient and modern man. It’s a gigantic rock cut temple built in 1200 BC and it was rescued i.e., literally shifted to higher ground in 1960s when it got flooded by Lake Nasser
· Nile Cruise – the whole experience… especially playing Antakshari with all the ladies and chatting with them
· Galabiya night on the cruise – costume shopping, dressing up and the party… the atmosphere was so festive that it felt like a family get together
· Alexandria – what a beautiful city… loved shopping, walking by the Mediterranean at night...

For day-by-day account of the tour click here

Egypt Trip Prep

I figured it was high time i started working on my dream of travelling the world. After considering various options i settled for 10 days (13 - 23 Dec) Egypt tour by SOTC. The good thing is SOTC takes care of everything - visa, tickets, hotel, sight-seeing etc.,

I had to submit 3 years IT return statements for obtaining the visa (along with various other documents)... i had a hard time with this one coz i had only last year's statement. I threw away all the previous statements when i cleaned my closet couple of months ago (yup! i do such smart things from time to time). Thanks to Swati & Talisma i managed to get duplicate copies of my previous IT statements within 24 hrs. I was amazed by the quick turnaround!

Once i got the visa and tickets (the whole process took only 4 days once i submitted all the documents)... next question was what kind of clothes should i wear on the trip... considering the egypt is a tourist hotspot i didn't expect it to have a dress code.. well, i was in for a big surprise coz they do have a dress code for women which goes something like this: loose fitting clothes, top should be atleast elbow length, no low necks, no shorts, skirts should be below knee... bottom line, the respect you get is directly proportionate to how much you are covered... if you don't adhere to these rules, you are likely to be subjected to eve-teasing and god knows what else... finding 'cool' outfits that met at all these restrictions was quite a challenge... with my shopping almost complete am all set to take off to the land of pyramids... am very excited about this trip :)

Dhoom 2

Watched Dhoom 2 last saturday. Overall, it's a very well made movie and has a feel good factor.

Hrithik was a pleasure to watch. He looks piping hot in his new look and carries out the role of a high-tech thief impeccably. Aishwarya & Hrithik look very good together. Aishwarya didn't quite fit into her role. Uday was very funny. Abhishek did justice to his role. Bipasha did what she does best i.e., do the bimbo act.