My Frivolous Blog

I was stunned when I heard the news today: ‘King of Pop’ Michael Jackson is dead.

While I admit I am not a serious music aficionado, while growing up whatever I non-Indian music heard was mostly Michael Jackson’s. There was only one TV channel in my hometown, Hyderabad (and most of India). DVD wasn’t around then. Once in a long while we would get to see some music videos for few minutes on ‘doordarshan’ (state-owned TV). Whatever I remember of watching then was mostly Michael Jackson…and some Madonna.

When I finally got to watch MTV regularly, Michael Jackson had stopped producing much but it was exciting to watch old Michael Jackson videos. I really enjoyed his music videos. Who can forget Thriller? Here are two of my many other favorites: ‘Black or White’ and ‘Remember the Time’. Awesome videos. Catchy tunes. Lingering lyrics.

I watched many on youtube just now. It wasn’t the same as watching on TV. Therefore I went ahead and placed an order for Number Ones, Michael Jackson - Video Greatest Hits - HIStory and Michael Jackson - History on Film, Vol. 2. I can’t wait to see them all.

The ‘King of Pop’ will be with us forever.

I found Photographic Solutions Eclipse E2 CCD Sensor Cleaner at Keeble & Shucat for cheaper than the cheapest price available online! I paid $8.30 (including taxes). It so happened I was not only one of the folks short on time to end up at that store, I also lucked out with the price. I wish I was saying this in the context of an expensive purchase.

Two years back I assembled a computer and installed Windows Vista on it. My Vista PC is still performing like a champ. Although I have been working on various versions of Unix (SunOS, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, Linux, etc.) to make my living, I have been using Windows at home since I bought my very own first PC (circa 1997). I was running Windows 95 on that computer ’til 2002. While it was not (as) stable (as my Windows Vista has been), it did an OK job. In 2002 when I moved to Windows XP, the stability issues linked to OS from Microsoft just disappeared. I haven’t seen a blue screen of death (BSOD) for years now. While I was happy with Windows XP, I built My Vista PC in 2002 when I had some time and money. I’ve been happy with Windows Vista since then.

I also run Fedora Core 8 in VMWare Workstation running on my My Vista PC.

When Windows 7 RC (release candidate) was available for beta testing, I couldn’t resist. I downloaded and burnt a DVD. I fired up VMWare running on my my Vista PC and began install. While I was installing it inside VM, I was also downloading Fedora Core 10 image (about 3.5 GB), editing some images in Photoshop Elements 7, and also taking screenshots of the install progress. With all my distractions, the install was complete under two hours! No crashes, no BSODs!! Windows 7 installation was absolutely smooth and trouble free.

Here’s how it started out:

Native System info:

System info of Windows 7 (running inside VM with 2 GB allocated to run the OS):

During the installation, this is how my (dual-core) CPU status was:

More screenshots of installation here.

I haven’t had a chance to play with Windows 7 much but I have observed that:
1) install was easy
2) the UI looks simpler and cooler
3) the system is stable
4) few new apps and improvements to existing Windows apps
5) all my existing hardware has been discovered

I hope to spend some time with Windows 7 and post more about it. With the little experience I have had with Windows 7 (and the good experience I have had with Windows XP and Windows Vista), if it is reasonably priced, I will upgrade to Windows 7 (on a separate hard disk on my PC) when it becomes available.

Despite making my donation, I am having to hear the non-stop pledge drives for the past few weeks on two of my favorite public radio stations. It is driving me crazy. Is this any way to treat the early donors?! Commercials on other stations, which are unbearable at other times, sound like music during the pledge drives. I switch between KPFA and KQED during pledge drives. When both of them have pledge drives at the same time, I take refuge in commercial stations.

If you haven’t made your pledge yet, could you please do it so that the pledge drive can end?!

My Ming Xing A008 Quadband phone, straight from China, is a nice phone. I wish I could say the same about the user manual that came with it. There is a way to lock the keypad but the documentation isn’t clear about how to unlock the keypad. I figured this out by trying different key sequences. Here is what unlocks the keypad: Press "C" (above FM), then "#"
The same sequence works to lock as well (if one wants to avoid going through menus).

A poor owner of fourteen-year old Honda Civic pays $78 license fee whereas a proud owner of a 7-year old BMW 530i pays only $156 license fee. A car that is half as old and cost more than four times what Honda Civic cost pays only twice as much. I am guessing by the time this BMW 530i is fourteen years old, it will pay less than a 14-year old Honda Civic. Oh, BTW, the fourteen year old Honda Civic goes to $70 smog test every year whereas the aforementioned BMW is tested only every other year.

Do you still believe them when they say that our representatives are taking care of the poor and needy?

The real examples above are from California. I would be surprised if it is any different elsewhere.

Why is everybody surprised about A-Rod’s ‘alleged’ steroid use? Haven’t we seen enough of such scandals in pro (and even amateur) sports world yet? Or, do we have shorter memory spans than infants? NBA, NFL, NL, AL, NHL, etc. do not give me any impression that they are doing enough about drug/steroid use. In fact, they appear to be caring about short term revenues (duh!) than about the well-being of those athletes that help the leagues. We, the fans, should keep this in mind. Sports, as any other money-making enterprise, will always turn a blind-eye to issues that aren’t in line with their financial goals. They will tolerate (or hush up) any excesses that contribute to the revenues. On the off chance sports authorities ‘expose’ an athlete (or few), it is just to give us a false impression that they don’t tolerate hook-or-crook when, in fact, they might be protecting some really big fish. Think about this: Why doesn’t pro leagues have one-strike-and-you-are-out policy and frequent random checks for banned substances?

Recently purchased Adobe Photoshop Elements 7. I have previously used Photoshop Elements 5 and Photoshop Elements 6. Although the latest edition does not have any obvious, major improvements over the previous version, but for less than $45 (after $20 MIR) it is definitely worth the upgrade…for many smaller enhancements it has. For someone looking for an inexpensive photo organizer and editor, IMO, it is certainly worth every penny. As usual, it is available for Windows and Mac.

I can’t forget my brother. It is December 1 today. It is World AIDS Day. I take this opportunity to thank Bono and others for raising AIDS awareness and helping victims around the world.

There are quite a few lovely female voices on NPR. Many of them are my favorite. The following are my top 5 favorite (not in any particular order):

Sandy Wood: Even a lecture on some arcane subject would sound great if she delivered it.
Lisa Mullin: The World is even more interesting because of her.
Melissa Block: All Things Considered is a well known program on NPR. Melissa Block is cool.
Nina Totenberg: I’m not sure if I would get excited about legal matters on radio if it wasn’t for Nina Totenberg.
Maureen Corrigan: Not only does she review books on NPR, she’s also written a book—Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading!.