Cherry Bunch
Feb 22nd
Cherry Bunch, originally uploaded by agrimgupta.
In a Singapore Chinese Temple.
IOPC 2010 at IIT Kanpur for Techkriti ‘10
Feb 9th
On the 7th of February, The International Online Programming Contest (IOPC) was conducted. Hosted by IIT Kanpur as a part of Techkriti ‘10, its annual Technological and Entrepreneurship festival, the contest was an 18 hour long code-fest marathon. People from all over the world were taking part in it. For those who missed out on the questions, I have compiled them and put them up online for all to see. Please note that these questions are IIT Kanpur’s property and using them anywhere in any form requires prior and proper permission. I am putting them up with due acknowledgement to all those professors who contributed towards developing the questions.
Here is the Link : http://j.mp/iopc2010
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Letting the two ends meet
Jan 22nd
I am finding it very difficult these days to update my blog. Things have been going a little too busy or awry. It seems that after Feb first week, it would be a good time to expect me to start blogging again. Lets hope that this time around my enthusiasm doesn’t get spoiled by the chaotic points of life. Thanks. See you later!
Sonnet – On Love
Nov 27th
I found this sonnet while I was cleaning up my room the other day. I had written this for a class assignment in my Literature Course. The overall structure might not be that impressive, but I have tried to adhere to some of the important technical principles and have perhaps succeeded in writing a fair enough piece of literature. Here it Goes.
To be dealt with care is love,
Delicate, Kind and Gentle Affair,
Snapping is easy, just stop the care,
Pure, Tranquil, innocent as dove.
Occupied Thoughts, Overshadowed Brain,
As fun as drops of the first rain.
With flowers it is best, Roses Prime,
Tulips sprawl the paths of your heart,
They always forgive, so make a fresh start,
Immortal it is, not decays with time.
To die in love, is a dream of all,
To cherish is challenge, an order tall.
Love is the life, Hunt for your goal,
Love is the stars, Love is your soul.
Everyone Follows Apple
Nov 16th
Dell has been trying to get more and more into the Desktop Market after creating a strong position in Laptops. After their All-in-One Desktop, which imitated the iMac, we should have expected that the MacMini must be the next target. Looks like finally Dell came up with this, which looks startlingly like the MacMini.
The Dell Zino HD, looks like the Mini, feels like the Mini but sucks big time than the Mini. They have tried to Create a Desktop platform that is actually an HTPC but could have been much, much better in the first place.
The Specs I must say, are not that Impressive. Everything seems to be wrong with the Device specs. With the base configuration ringing in at $229 and packs AMD’s single-core Athlon 1.6GHz, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, a DVD burner, integrated Radeon HD 3200 video (no bundled Monitor) and Windows Vista, I think a powerful enough Atom Based PC could also do much good to it. Definitely the MacMini is far far more powerful than this.
But than you might be asking this is $229, the mini is over $600? but then again, Dell has the $649 config also. But with a small processor upgrade, smaller HDD upgrade, and a fair graphics upgrade, coupled with a standard 20″ Monitor, the thing starts to look expensive. Heck, Tomshardware has a Gaming Rig at that cost!
Rest is for you to Decide whether the Zino is in for some Fun or not. Although the colors surely look tempting!
The Morning Air
Nov 13th
It’s still dark. Yet the light is sufficient for you to see the birds flying across.
It’s still cold. Yet you feel the warmth that a new day brings.
Its morning. And the time is now. Waking up might a difficult task. Anyhow, I managed to get up just in time to experience all of these. The dew drops on the grass blades, the peacocks practicing their morning blues, the early risers doing their regular jobs well, regularly, and most important of all, a very excited and optimistic – Me.
The sky is cloudy. The sun has lost to the heavily overcast conditions. It feels it might just rain at any moment, or might even snow, given that is cold. My hands, my fingers are getting a little numb as I type this. I am making a conscious effort to breathe in as much as I can. And it feels nice. Even though everything is so silent, everything just seems so lively, so fresh. I am just about to get ready for my classes; they seem so out of the place at this moment. I would rather bury myself in my blanket and sleep for the earlier part of the day and be even happier. But life is never so rosy, if ever it was something in the first place itself. Time is a scarce commodity, exams are in pure abundance, and marks are even scarcer, more like a famine. Longings are increasing, while belongings remain at a constant decay.
Morning is a good time to spend life in, if you can get up. Let’s see how the day shape’s up!
Antaragni ‘09 – A Change in Perspective
Nov 2nd
Antaragni '09 - Be the Change
The Change is here. Antaragni ’09 came with a much promised philosophy of change, and delivered on that. It was perhaps the best ever Antaragni in the History of IIT Kanpur. And talking about history, there could not have been a better time to rejoice, with IIT Kanpur celebrating it Golden Jubilee Year, It was a very, very special Antaragni.
The festival is an outcome of months of hard work and great managerial abilities of the students of IITK.
The festival started on 22nd October with a fantastic opening night “Prima Nocté”. It was made special by two fusion bands – Sitar funk (a band which will make you go head banging on a sitar) and Advaita (an emerging new band from New Delhi).
With prize money of over 3 lakh Rupees, Ritambhara – the fashion event was one of the most awaited events of the festival. Models from various fashion institutes and other colleges walked the ramp to prove their style statement. The best two models of the event even got a wildcard entry into the “Miss India” Pageant.
For the rock lovers there was Synchronicity, the rock band competition in which various college bands competed against each other in a battle of music. Besides the competition the event was rocked by “The Jaded Sun” – an Irish rock band and Medusa – a Mumbai based established rock band.
Mridaksh – “the hunt for Mr. and Ms. Antaragni” is a personality contest that’s conducted in two stages. The judging is based on the answers to on stage questions by the hosts and judges, based on their self introduction, their talent display and a questionnaire which tests their wittiness to a rather extreme extent. It is an event that is thoroughly enjoyed by one-and-all as there is a lot of general humor and much in store for the audience.
There were also a number of exhibitions and workshops. Tracy Lee Strum, a famous 3-D painter from the United Sates exhibited her unique form of street art. KV Gautum, a well known cartoonist conducted a workshop on cartoon making. While for couples who were looking for some dancing fun, there was a salsa workshop where one could see much fun and interaction. A lot of people appreciated the effort of the Salsa Workshop which was a recent introduction. It will perhaps be introduced next time around with renewed vigour. Besides these there was India Haat – a show of Indian cultural dance forms and Kavi Sammelan which entranced into the realms of Hindi Poetry, a very special skill; more of an art form. There were also a number of informal events like Antakshari, Bollywood Tambola, Dares, Blind Date etc.
“Calypso” (the discotheque) was the place that offered you the chance to escape from the maddening heat of competition and dance the night away. One of the best DJs of the country was here to rock the dance floor with his foot tapping and mystical mixes.
On the last night – “The Professional Nite” stared with the performance of “Faridkot” (a new ind-pop band from Delhi) and then there was Krishnakumar Kunnat more popular by his otherwise short name – KK. He strung together some of his best songs in a continuous mix for over three hours and you could see people dancing and only dancing. There was no stopping the enthusiasm. Even some of the professors reportedly joined in to groove in on some of his tunes. “Pal” is a well-known non-Bollywood album by KK.