The Singtel Singapore Grand Prix - 2008

Brilliant, Breathtaking, Larger-Than-Imagined experience - SERIOUSLY !!!!!

I'm sure all those who watched the friday practice of the race would agree with me ... 

The lights, the roaring engines, and the soaring heat were all there to justify the importance of this race in the history of F1 ... I'd say it really deserves its place on the F1 calendar even before the start of the first race ... :) ... The sight was really amazing ... Roads are awesome ... And the lighting is unbelievable ... Have a look - this really is the mark of the next generation F1 ... 

Catch the qualifying session live on Star Sports tonight at 1930 IST ... 

This is one of the best preview videos for the race ... Have a look ...

p.s. Also try to hear the song "Caravan" from the movie Hello sung by Shafqat Amanat Ali ... It'll be a real treat for all those who enjoyed his voice in Mitwa and Mora Saiyyaan(Khamaj) ...

Michael Schumacher - Brazil GP 2006

Awesome race ... This is why he deserves to be called The Best ... Have a look at this last race of his ...

Daemon Wallpapoz - Really Useful

While working in Ubuntu , I always wanted all of my workspaces to have some uniqueness or identity over the others to make work easier ... I found this cool application - Daemon Wallpapoz 0.4.1 that works like the webshots application in windows to change the wallpaper after a user-specified time period and also , after a li'l bit of twitching , can provide you different wallpapers for different workspaces ... :)

1. Download the archive from http://wallpapoz.akbarhome.com/download.html

2. If you dont have the python dependencies in your system as yet, get them through this :

sudo apt-get install python-gnome2 python-imaging python-gtk2

3. Unzip the wallpapoz archive

tar -xzf wallpapoz-0.4.tar.gz

4. Install Wallpapoz

cd wallpapoz-0.4
sudo python setup.py install

5. Open Wallpapoz via Applications->Accessories->Wallpapoz

6. Assign each workspace with a different wallpaper of your choice by clicking the workspace and selecting the "add file" button ...

7. After the assignment , click on restart ...

8. Check out the cool application by changing workspaces ... :)


To configure Wallpapoz to run every time you boot, go to System->Preferences->Sessions ... Add :
Name - daemon_wallpapoz
Command - /usr/local/bin/daemon_wallpapoz


Have Fun , enjoy ...

First-Of-Its-Kind

Woooohoooooooo ... Just a week and a couple of hours over it left for the Singapore Grand Prix ... Some drivers' techniques to prepare for the first ever race under artificial lights plus the added feature of a street circuit, as quoted by formula1.com are -

I am staying up late at night, I am going out to nightclubs, and I’m eating a lot of carrots because they apparently help you to see better in the dark. I will work on the simulator on Monday. You see I’m doing all the preparations that I can possibly do. I will touch down in Singapore Tuesday morning and then I will head for the track. I will walk it, crawl it, will cycle it, have someone take me around it on their back - you name it, I’ll do it! - David Coulthard , Red Bull Racing , GREAT BRITAIN

This will be tough because it means trying to stay awake until 8 am, then sleeping for practically the whole day before starting the engineering and running schedule at around 5 pm. The first night race is very exciting for the sport and I can’t wait to see what conditions the floodlighting will present. It’s going to be quite a challenge but one that I’m looking forward to. - Jensen Button , Honda , GREAT BRITAIN

Nothing dramatic - mostly I am curious. The other day I read the schedule of our team and it said: the drivers may leave the circuit at 3.30 am! Isn’t that crazy? But in the end it is going to be pretty much on European timing, so I think we are going to be quite used to the schedule. To learn the track we use a lot of videos and the simulator. When I arrive I like to walk the track with the engineers, or I take the scooter if I want a little more feeling - like in Valencia, as there were 25 corners, and you could not get a proper feeling with only one lap of walking. I will arrive on Monday, and have two days to spend with my wife in the city, and then most probably I will have a very lively nightlife to get used to the schedule. - Rubens Barichello , Honda , BRAZIL

It will be more than just a motor race, we envsion it to be a national festival, and one that presents many opportunities for participation for everyone, both visitors and Singaporeans alike. - Mr. S Iswaran, Minister of State and Inudustry, Singapore.

Really looking forward to the drivers zoom around areas such as the Marina Bay, Raffles Boulevard , Anderson Bridge and St. Andrews Road ... It's gonna be a challenge for the drivers and teams , but a real memorable experience for the viewers ...

Ubuntu Log-in Screen

Though its pretty unique and a refreshing and welcome change, but Ubuntu also has some scope for improvement in a few areas ... I'll try to guide you all through to twitch and tune your Ubuntu desktops (safely) and give you pleasure-to-work experience out of it ...

Now, I seriously was starting to get bored of the same old peach coloured LogIn everytime I used to boot with Ubuntu ... A little bit of study revealed that the GDM , Desktop Services Manager in Ubuntu is theme-able ... Customized theme packages are just an update away ... :)

1. Go to the terminal and key in : 

sudo apt-get install gdm-themes

2. After the package is installed , go to System->Administration->LogIn Window ...

3. Navigate to the "Local" tab and check the theme you would like to use ...

Enjoy ... :D ...

Have fun ....

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

For all those who're still wondering what's with that middle name of mine , I'd flash your memories to that instance in The Chamber of Secrets where Tom Riddle magically shifts the letters in his name and re-arranges it to form "I Am Lord Voldemort" ... lolllz ... No, nothing of those sorts in my life ... I'm a Muggle ... :) ...

This brings me to my next BIG interest - Counter Strike ... " VoLdEmOrT " is my counter strike alias or in simple words , i'm better known as Voldemort in the CS World ...

I really didnt have any fascination with Voldemort's character ... Its just that I really liked the name for my alias ... Really unique (a bit scary too ... that helps .. ;) )

Our clan(team) name is "rAnDoM" , and i wont shy in saying we're pretty good now ... :P ...
No , really ... We guys actually won the final of the last fest in Amity ... and doing good in other tournies too ... :) ... WCG is up next week (an entire post can be dedicated to this ... it was to be held in mid-august ... then late-aug ... then early sept ... and blah blah blah ... bottomline - still not held ... :D )

C'mon over sometime and see us all playing on LAN ...
Homes , Cafes , and most importantly Classes ... Actually most of our CS-time is spent in Classes ... Back seat ... extension chords ... keeping NETBEANS or TC or the notes of watevr subject's going on at the touch of an ALT+TAB ... lollllz ... it really works ...

Compiz Effects in Ubuntu

This goes out for all the Ubuntu lovers ...

Have you tried installing the Compiz Settings Manager on your system as yet ? If not , try it out ... It's way too cool over the default effects manager in Ubuntu ...

And its quite easy to set the up ... Here's what you have to do :

1. Install CCSM
Go to the terminal and type in :

sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager

2. Go to System->Preferences->Advanced Desktop Effects Settings

3. To begin with , enable the Desktop Cube, Rotate Cube and Cube Caps plugins.

4. You can also try your hands with all the other effects given towards the bottom of the Settings window ...

Make your Ubuntu work a li'l more exciting with these effects ... :) ...
Enjoy ...

p.s. - The desktop cube described above works only if there are 3 or more workspaces ... For less than 3 workspaces , it only shows a desktop sheet which is quite logically correct ... :)
To activate the "cube" , increase the number of workspaces depending on the faces of the "cube" u need ...
This can be done using the workspaces tab towards the left bottom of your ubuntu desktop (next to the trash icon) ... Right click and enter preferences ...
Select the no. of workspaces by incrementing the columns part ... leave the rows intact ... Now check the cube effect with CTRL+ALT+MouseButton1 ... :)

The Santander Italian Grand Prix

Monza , as always , fills the weekend up with loads of surprises in store for us year after year ....

" The rain that has been such a feature of the Monza weekend continued to wreak havoc on both practice and qualifying on Saturday, and left some star names in embarrassingly low grid positions as one of the sport’s underdog teams came good. " - www.formula1.com

Sebastien Vettel (GER) , became the youngest man in F1 history to be on he pole position for a Grand Prix. Kimi and Lewis , the two competitors for the world championship didnt even qualify for the Q3 , and are sitting on 14th and 15th positions on the grid , respectively ... And for the first time in the history of the sport, we have 7 of the top 8 positions in the grid occupied by different teams ... phew ... That IS really amazing ...

Fingers crossed , waiting for yet another classic Monza experience ...

Ringtones Gallery

I've uploaded some of the ringtones i've created using Virtual DJ ver. 3 as samples ...

hope you like them .. and yeah , these are just some ... if u want the ringtone for any song , just let me know , your request wont be neglected ... :) ... (see how nice i am to my blog readers ... :P ... koi nahi , first blog hai ... itna to allowed hai ...)

1. Tum Ho To (Sinbad Version)

link - http://rapidshare.com/files/144735825/tum_ho_to_-_sinbad.mp3

2. Love Is In The Air - RHTDM Rain Theme

link: http://rapidshare.com/files/144735827/love_is_in_the_air.mp3

3. Yahaan Koi Aane Waala Hai

link: http://rapidshare.com/files/144739436/koi_aane_waala_hai.mp3

4. Asmaani Rang Ho

link: http://rapidshare.com/files/144739435/asmani_rang_ho.mp3

5. Pehli Nazar Mein

link: http://rapidshare.com/files/144739439/pehli_nazar.mp3

My Music

Okkk now ... This can be termed as the second biggest passion in my life after F1 ...

People who know me well , surely are aware of the taste in music I have ...

To briefly describe it , I'd have to say its like Maggi Tomato Ketchup - It's Different !

I mean it might sound strange to some , but i really am not into english songs (leaving aside a few exceptions) ...

A few selected ones among the " $ls -l " (..... :P .....) command's output for the long listing of my music directory (selection criteria being - least likely to be in an average music lovers album :) ) are :

Romantic

*Ye Tumhaari Meri Baatein - Rock On

*Tere Bin - Rabbi Shergill

*Kitni Narmi Se - Dil Jo Bhi Kahey

*Meri Saanso Mein - Aur Pyar Ho Gaya

*Saiyaan - Kailash Kher

*Kiska Chehra - Tarkeib (Jagjit Singh & Alka Yagnik)

*Tum Se Hi - Jab We Met

*Pyar To Hona Hi Hai - Sunday

*Yeh Kya Hua - Shreya Ghoshal

*Koi Aane Waala Hai - Strings

*Humein Itna Pyar Na Karo - Jal

*Baahon Ke Darmiyaan - Khamoshi

*Pehli Nazar Mein - Race

*Meri Zindagi Mein Aaye Ho - Armaan

*Bhaage Re Mann - Chameli

*Khamosh Raat - Thakshak

*Aur Kya - Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani

*Pyar Ko Ho Jaane Do - Dushman

....................... and so on ...

Sad (About thrice as large as the romantic songs' directory ... :) )

*Tere Bin Nahi Lagda - Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

*Mora Saiyaan Mo Se Bole Na - Fuzon

*Aaoge Jab Tum Sajna - Jab We Met

*Jaane Kya Chaahe Mann - Pyar Ke Side Effects

*Nahi Saamne - Taal

*Jhonka Hawa Ka - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam

*Guncha Koi Tere Naam Kar Diya - Mohit Chouhan

*Bheegi Yaadein - Aadat (Deep Blue Version)

*Kitni Baatein Yaad Aati Hain - Lakshya

*Tum Ho To - Rock On

*Kahin To Hogi Woh - Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

*Aazmaale - Taxi No. 9211

*Jeeyein To Jeeyein Kaise - Pankaj Udhas

*Mehfuz - Aamir

*Ajnabi Shehar Hai - Jaanemann

*Socha Na Tha - Socha Na Tha

*Yakeen - Atif (Jal Pari)

.............. etc etc ..........

And now comes the part of the exceptions --- >

*When You Say Nothing At All - Ronan Keating ... Originally sung by Allison Krauss

*Hello - Lionel Ritchie

*Its Only Words - Beegees

*As Long As You Love Me - Backstreet Boys

Incase anyone needs any details about these songs (song links/lyrics/blah blah blah) do contact me ... for more song requests contact without hesitation like you all have always requested ... its a pleasure to spread music gyaan ... :D

c yazzzzz ...

p.s. am a little busy with CS these days ... its an abbreviation for Counter-Strike for those n()()bs who couldn't figure it out ... ;) ... just kidding ...

Take care ...