Category: Writing

Tribute to a meliorist.

May 20th, 2007 · Jacob · Writing Comments Off - Tags: ,

This is a tribute  to a meliorist who found himself in the unfathomed depths of
his deep desire  for serenity and peace in his very own “Dystopia” .Well if i am looking for a
element of pathos for this crusader then at the end of this article i
can be sure that my qualitites of a fellow human being are stretched to the maximum.

Yes ,this noble-minded person had the courtesy to start a deputation where human instincts
are given values.He was confided to look after himself on this earth . God gave him full
authority over the rest of the living beings when he planted the seeds of  anger,lie,and deceit in himself.
Why?..A question of due importance..Anyway here,I will try to unravel some of the attributes of this
only surviving hominid…With a brain volume of nearly 1400 cc (What’s in there?) and a being
distinguished from other living beings by its superordinate intelligence,upright posture.

He thinks there is hope even in the desperate of situations.He clings to his life trying to avoid what fate decides.
The element of selfishness is always ready to emerge from him.He neglects what others say about him.
He laughs upon his fellow beings and finally finds himself diminished to the level of a bug.Why..?Why doesn’t he realize
how stupid his deeds are.?Why doesn’t he come back to his  well being .Why does he hestitate to live a good life..?
Why does he want to be trodden down to the dirt by his own fellow beings.?

This exploration into his state cannot be of a inquisitive nature..nor can it be speculative..It sets before us  infinte
theories which can never be answered absolutely.There is one thing we can deduce from this situation,
the identity of the being.

It was a dark dull night.He walked down to the river shore and sat on the damp ground.It was raining intemperately.
The grass on the land seemed to come alive with a spontaneous piquancy.He sat there and looked down.His image
on the water twined and wavered due to the ripples on the surface.I tried to make out who he was..With a posed expression
his mind flashed him a familiar face;Sad and lonely…It was me…

Really,RMVB!

September 13th, 2006 · Jacob · Critique, Media, Writing Comments Off - Tags: , , ,

RMVB is one container format you never want to show your back.Infact if you do that you will be missing a lot of good things.Come on…I am not kidding.Well..I do not blame you guys for i too hated files with an .rm extension.But recently RealMedia has developed a spectacular format for variable bitrate streams..’Real Media Variable Bitrate’ or simply rmvb.Files in AVI format,(especially the ones encoded with DivX or XVid) were widely popular in 2001(still pretty famous..).I came across these RealMedia formats due to anime download sites.Actually it was Inuyasha(Ep. 11) that i downloaded first.The size of an 27 minute episode was 33 MB and the quality was decent.Back then there were times when i even felt that i was the only one using .rm files

Well what is really the fuss about rmvb format?.Nothing much..It is smaller in size compared to .mpg and .avi and can be used for storing media files.RMVB is a contrary to other formats(even .rm) because of its Bitrate settings.Variable bitrate varies output data per time segment.Unlike CBR(Constant Bitrate),VBR gives higher bitrate for complex sections in a media file and segments of less complex nature are given reduced bitrate.So the net result being,the file’s size reduced dramatically.

Size?..A 24 min ‘LOST’ episode in rmvb can have a size of 85 MB whereas an AVI version can have anything from 125-200 MB.(Above that it must have an uncompressed avi..you are nuts!)That’s definitely an advantage with rmvb right?.

The next Factor,

Quality..hmm..I have eyes and they tell me the quality is almost same to an .avi equivalent.Don’t believe me?.Screenshots please!!.Hey Mr.Forse has some for us.

Support for advanced content, such as chapters, subtitles, meta-tags, user-data,streaming media?.

A plain but sure yes.

Moving on..

Portability.Uh Oh..It seems like we have reached problems at last.If you have a computer system and a real player..Fine!.I once said about ‘rmvb’ to a friend.After a strong debate, he remarked.

But i am sure that my DVD player supports only DivX and not RealMedia..

True,RealMedia is not supported by players available now but this may soon be done.(I hope so.)Mp3 files too have such a problem.Some such files are now being encoded using VBR and these files are not found to compatible with other players.So listening to your car stereo,remember..it is ‘CBR encoded mp3′ (or even Average Bitrate).The encoders and the decoders have to be a little more complex if we have to hear VBR files.But sure technology is changing.We can emphatically hope for more advanced gadgets.

Now that i have blogged a lot i feel like downloading a movie.Let me search..hmm..Pirates of carribean:Dead Man’s Chest.Got it! 635 MB(DVD Rip.DivX).Woah!!That’s simpy too much…I got to add a nice extension to my search..hmm..Voila.374 MB!.Ya Guys it is none other that ‘.rmvb’

Topping the Desktop

September 12th, 2006 · Jacob · Web, Writing 3 comments - Tags: , , ,

Now that the internet is on a turbulent ramification in all directions,many old concepts are being reiterated on the basis of developing technology.One such concept is Desktop.Yes desktop..the place where you have your ‘My computer’,'Recycle Bin’ and many more of your tools you need to survive in this advanced period of time.What about this desktop?You may ask..Nothing has really happened to it nor am i going to critique some new widgets or applications.The concept of desktop has been refurnished to an online adaptation.Online Desktops..Webtops.David Bouley explains it well in the home page of EyeOS.

Imagine being able to sit down at any ordinary computer in an Internet cafe or public library, start up the resident web browser and access your personal desktop – along with your applications, messages, and information – with a click of your mouse button. Then, when you’re done, you simply close the web browser to have all of the documents you’ve just worked on safely stored on your remote server, leaving nothing on the computer you’ve just been working on. This is the goal of the mobile desktop and operating system called eyeOS.


EyeOS is one such website described as “the Open Source Web Operating System.”..Open source hmm..Absolutely a FREE zone,Guys!!.You can check its live demo here .

The term ‘webtop’ is said to be coined in 1996 and is also known as ‘network oriented desktop’.The topic being new to me lead me to an unexpected array of vast web based applications.To name a random one.Writely,The Web Word Processor,which though is related only to documents is impressive.What sucked me into this was when a friend suggested to me about ‘Desktop two‘.A site which offers the users the look and feel of a desktop.So does eyeOS post an impressive version of a webtop tagged under freeware.Desktop two offers upto 1GB in the free account.

The features include

  • Address Book
  • Blog
  • E-Mail
  • Global Settings
  • Hard Drive
  • IM
  • Programs
  • Mp3 player
  • Office suite

That’s a lot right.Wait till you hear the rest.The latest entity in web development,Ajax,creates a new class of such webtops know as online Ajax desktops.You should have come across small sites that allow you to tag,bookmark and arrange your contacts,favourites etc right?.But you always found it to be hard organising all these information.That’s when such webtops come in handy.
Dion Hinchcliffe classifies the features of Ajax Desktops as

  1. One Stop – Centralized online consumption of content and services
  2. Accessible Anywhere – Roaming accessibility from anywhere with Web connectivity
  3. All Your Data – Easy integration of most existing information sources including e-mail, calendars, bookmarks, news, blogs,pictures, etc.
  4. Engaging, Fun, Fast – Rich, interactive experiences that match native software
  5. A Platform that Grows And Evolves – Open platform for in-browser third-party software add-ons (Live.com’s Gadgets and Pageflakes’ Community Flakes)
  6. Real Software Not Just Data – Increasing integration with Web 2.0 software applications like word processors, messaging, and wikis, plus rich Javascript widgets
  7. Intelligent Consumption – Ad-hoc, decentralized, user guided content filtering and mashup creation.

Protopage,PageFlakes,Netvibes,Live are some of the more popular webtops available.Cosmopod,Goowy are also variations that are worth checking.

Java Comes up with a site called java desktop community to promote its GUI support.Sun Microsystems introduced the Java Web Start framework e in 2001. It provides the most essential feature for a Webtop.JNLP is the protocol Web Start uses for this purpose.Anyway,The concept of desktops has definitely evolved.Whether my computer will be running on a pure web based operating

system ..hmm..A probable development in the coming years.Maybe..As all speculations regarding the future ends,I too rely on Mr Time to tell me the future.I leave with some screenshots from desktoptwo.com

Au revoir

September 7th, 2006 · Jacob · Writing 6 comments - Tags: , ,

I wrote this song during my last days at Loyola.What it is about?Boohoo!!I miss school..

It’s all over now
Reasons are all gone
Silence crept in,Rythm faded away
Clapping of hands came to a still
Heart of the young men were swelling with grief

Why ,Why did the light succumb to darkness
Silence just prevailed over the tempo
Tunes so soothing turned to neverending din
Dry leaves were falling down from the maple trees(Its all..)

We are bidding goodbye..to a wonderful world
And i saw the sparkle in the eyes of the world
Why ,Why did the music stop then
When the tap of the music faded into silence(Its all..)

Dry leaves were falling faster
Sweet memories ,we had in the past
were now wept down to shiny drops
Time was in its slowest role (Its all..)

Different roads we have to tread
I’m No more brave to look back once
Years’ together with all the fun
i’m saying goodbye to a world so dear
(Its all..)