Ubuntu 10.10: released on 10.10.10

                              

Canonical Ltd. announced the release of its latest Ubuntu 10.10 on 10th October, 2010 (apparently the most auspicious day of this century). Open source operating system Ubuntu 10.10 is available to download for desktop, notebook, and server editions. All the versions are emphasizing Canonical’s embracing of the cloud, whether in terms of a “personal cloud” for desktop and netbook users or the deployment in virtual environment of the server edition. The first visible change comes in the installer itself.

The Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook edition has come up with the all new “Unity” user interface. It is optimized for smaller netbook screens and mobile computing. The Unity UI offers limited support for touch. Canonical says that it lets you find and rediscover your preferred applications more easily whether they are on your netbook or on the web.

Ubuntu 10.10 untangles the complexities of cloud computing in a very efficient manner. Ubuntu One Basic offers users a personal cloud for sharing and synchronizing files, contacts, bookmarks and notes. It offers 2 GB of storage and access to music from the integrated store. The Ubuntu One Mobile service supports Android mobile devices and iPhones. This allows end users to stream music from their personal cloud to their various mobile devices and synchronize contacts. Ubuntu One Mobile costs $3.99 per month or $39.99 annually. Canonical claims its server edition to be “the default open-source choice for cloud computing.” Ubuntu also allows the creation and control of public cloud. Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) allows you to build on-demand virtual systems on almost any scale without investing in hardware.

Ubuntu 10.10 includes Mozilla Firefox for web browsing and can also support Google Chrome (I’m especially happy for it because I use Chrome).The software named OpenOffice.org is fully compatible with Microsoft Office and has everything to create professional documents, spreadsheets and presentations. In terms of software, Ubuntu is like the iPhone. The Ubuntu Software Centre gives instant access to thousands of open-source and carefully selected free applications. Ubuntu’s new Me Menu lets the users access their Facebook and Twitter accounts and allows them to connect to all the favorite chat channels and make updates through a single window.

Ubuntu 10.10 takes less than 10 seconds for booting (good news for computer geeks who hate slow computers).Canonical says that Ubuntu loads quickly on any computer, but it’s super-fast on newer machines. What will be next? Only a six months wait can reveal (Ubuntu 11.04 planned to release on April 28, 2011).

(P.S. Now this post may seem different from my previous posts, the only thing why I was drawn to write is I’d used Ubuntu(9.04), its latest version solves the complexities of CLOUD COMPUTING(my seminar topic!!) and most importantly its release date.)

Just a thought...

The world has become a pretty small place and most of us move around a lot. We move away for school or college (and after a few months for job), and most people have friends across the country and around the globe. But even with cell phones and instant messages, chatting, email, Facebook and Twitter, I find it difficult to maintain close friendships with people who live far away.

Whether we met in high school, college, or some other time in life – chances are high that distance will come between us and some of our closest and dearest friends. Why is it hard to maintain long-distance friendships? When friends staying so far meet after a long long time, I’m elated…we can talk about the big stuff, but there is a lot of pressure to get it all out before your time is up. So much of day to day life is in the small stuff, the things you’d never want to waste time with if you only had a few hours with someone. But the everyday details are what allow you for better understanding and bonding, to take the pressure off a rare visit and focus on the moment.

I should accept that friendships come and go. That’s not to say that people are expendable, just that as we move to new phases of our lives, some relationships naturally drift apart and others form. No matter whatever you try…and hold on; this just happens. The small-small things that we shared each day reduce to just sharing the major things in life.Each of these people represents a cherished part of my life. The precious moments (no matter how small, yet sweet) spent with the dearest ones will always be etched in my heart as they embellish my life.

As these friends move away, and the distance between us grows (blindingly obvious) it feels like I’m moving farther away from what those times in my life represented.Especially now, when my life is challenging and often seems out of control, I am nostalgic for times when the future seemed so bright and full of endless possibility.

(P.S. Friendship is measured by the heart…so no matter how many miles friends are away from us, they are never far apart.)

Shall WE change?

I came across something pretty obvious. It’s something we all know but something we do not really talk about. Well, it’s not like we haven’t been doing that for age; it’s a natural tendency to blame someone else for just about everything. At some point or other, you must have said to yourself, “How come that person be so rude?” or “Why don’t he/she understand my views?” or “How come they say such a thing?” or “Why I am the one who always gets hurt?” Even I have said things like that several times. We often react this way because our emotions are a part of most people’s innate thoughts & behaviours…we respond emotionally to emotional needs of our own, rather than in a logical, rational manner.

It’s ridiculous when people spend inordinate amounts of time and energy being upset, angry or frustrated by other people’s thoughts & behaviours. We don’t think pragmatically about it when we have an emotional reaction to someone else’s behaviour or words. Why should we (by default) believe we can change another person’s (an independent, thinking self just like us) behaviours and thoughts with just a few choice words? (If we think about it for a minute…it sounds kinda ludicrous)  One of life’s hardest lessons is just change yourself, if you can’t change the world.

So what exactly am I talking about? For those wondering if I am speaking sense at all or wondering if I’m sane…let me make this simple. We get up and wonder that something is wrong. Something is wrong with system…something is wrong with the people around us…something is wrong with the country…something is wrong with our lives…something is wrong with the world…basically most things don’t seem right and we just aren’t able to do anything about it. Pardon me if I seem pessimistic. It is we who are the problem. It is us where the issues begin. Each day it’s we who decide how things happen. The world would be a better place if WE decide to take action and change accordingly…we are the one who can change things.People looking for a solution must realize that the solution to all their problems lies in themselves.The moment we  discover that within ourselves, things will change.

If we can change about the way we live our life, then it’s very easy to deal with an external change. We can’t expect the whole world to change the way we want. We must be the change we want to see in the world. In simple words, all it takes is a bit of flexibility and a force to think or act differently. It’s always easier to change our own self-image, values and behaviour( rather than someone else’s). A change from within is the smoothest and most effective way for improving the way we perceive the eccentric world (because a person thinks that everyone except him is weird in one way or the other).

When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. But now, I discovered the world would not change, my country  wont  change either. Neither I can change my family nor my friends. All I can  do  is  change  myself  first. I guess I’ve just realized something really important.  Realization is one thing, doing it is what actually matters…

(P.S. CHANGE is the word that I have been hearing these days from my colleagues. Yeah! Someone has already changed, someone is trying to change, someone is changing, someone wants to change, etc. And I thought, why not write something about this ‘change’.)

LIFE............as we know it

Well, the first thing which caught my attention when I thought of writing this blogpost is Mark Twain’s quote “Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.”  But hey! I am no philosopher or writer to write some great stuff about life…I just want to express what I feel regarding this small word LIFE (yet encompassing one’s whole lifetime) from my past experience of two decades (Oh yeah…it feels great to be in 20’s!!).

For many of us, life is not a fairy tale. You just can’t wait for a genie to fulfil all your wishes (ironically, my last Facebook status was that only). In reality, it takes a mammoth amount of efforts and perseverance to fructify just an iota of SUCCESS. All the hurdles faced in the lifetime is actually rewardful at the end because you would know the real taste of success only if you had suffered as a part of the quest. But remember success is more permanent when you achieve it without destroying your principles no matter how you have to endure hardships.

When something right or wrong happens to you, you blindly say its just DESTINY but never agree to the fact that what happened is just the consequences of your own actions. And if its destiny, then destiny too smiles on only those who’ve given ample dedication to their work. You simply can’t sit with your legs crossed and wait for golden eggs. Nothing comes so easy. The rate of achievement is directly proportional to the rate of efforts put in (This law does not exist in any subjects, I just think that way). But wait….I know many of you must be wondering about negligible yet significant factor called LUCK. When this factor is favourable, you get high rewards and when unfavourable, you fail……but I bet, you read “Fooled by Randomness” and you will be convinced that such a hypothetical factor does not exist. Without effort and preparation lucky coincidences don’t happen. All your results sheerly depend on your past actions.

Sometimes when life plays a prank on you and you are shattered by the failures, only a few people make an attempt to resurrect and fight back while most of the people are deemed to be doomed. But why don’t all understand that their chance of success lies in the trials only. Its only when the conditions seem worser, a strongly determined person’ll not quit because the HOPE (the last thing that dies in man) in him keeps him moving ahead to chase his dreams by overcoming all the failures. When the world says give up, hope whispers try it one more time.

Sometimes life gives a feeling like being in paradise (happy moments) and sometimes like being in hell (sad moments) and you say Life sucks!! Well, ups and downs make the road to the destination, we all know. In our whole lifetime what values most is the valuable time spent with others (parents, siblings, friends, relatives, etc.) and not being too selfish by cramming ‘I’, ‘me’,  ‘myself’, ‘mine’, etc. Life’s too short to live, your birth won’t make a slightest difference to the entire world (for some great personalities, it’s an exception) but you can make a difference for the people around you not for the sake of fame/recognition but just because you CARE. It would neither cost you a million bucks nor a lifetime….just simple gestures, kind words and a helping hand will work as MAGIC!!  And that’s the BEAUTY of life apart from feeling the ecstasy of spring, warmth of summer, chillness of rains, quite charm of autumn and calm of winter.

You can also leave a trail behind when you live in to an eternal hope, love and God and letting others live by your virtues. The true measure of life is not how long you live, but how well you live in peace and harmony….a life that’s short, simple and satisfied rather than an endless craving for money, fame, pleasure, pride (things that are ephemeral).

Realise the time value of life........Explore. Dream. Discover!!!

(P.S. LIFE and the related terms are defined and understood by different people differently. The above written stuff is my perspective.)

The Ayodhya Verdict : a test for Hindu-Muslim brotherhood

People are dying of hunger here, and all we want to do is to build mosques and temples, and for what reason? Not to offer prayer, not to read namaaz, but to prove some stupid claim over some stupid land(ironically, its not a mere property case), for which thousands of people have lost their lives and probably millions are on the verge of losing it, again.

At the time, when we are (supposedly) supposed to have been completely evolved as human beings, and accept each other as we are, spread not only the message but also peace to people of other religions and nationalities and build a system where no one dies of hunger, and for that matter sleep on streets, what we are doing is fighting over religions and an individual’s personally derived (twisted) meaning of PEACE. We, instead of building stone structures which we can call as “homes” and put the ones who are in desperate need of it, are fighting to build those stone structures which we fondly address as mosques and temples and place stone-carved statues and tombs in it.

Well,India rests uneasy ahead of the final crucial verdict on the decades-old title suits seeking ownership of the disputed Ayodhya site.The title suit pertaining to the 2.77 acres of land in Uttar Pradesh takes root in the Hindus' beliefs that Ayodhya is 'Ram Janmabhoomi', or the birthplace of Lord Ram, while Muslims seek to defend Babri Masjid, built by Moghul emperor Babur in 1528.The dispute that grew year after year on several campaigns from both the sides, took an ugly turn on Dec 6, 1992 when Babri Masjid was demolished during a political rally, followed by riots in which over 2000 were killed.

Where a section of this society of ours is desperately waiting to bring out their knives and swords and start wielding it on fellow human beings, another section of this same society of ours is trying to keep the ‘bond’ between humans intact.Around 15 Muslim families(in the Asharfi Bhawan area of Ayodhya)have been involved in making floral garlands and decorative offerings for Hindu devotees for the last several decades.Asked what they think about the much-awaited verdict in the long-pending title suit, Muslim artisans said irrespective of the outcome of the judgement they would continue with their business to help Hindus.“We just pray for peace and believe the judgement will not affect Hindu-Muslim brotherhood and unity,” Sartaj added.

Like you (who is reading this) I too, don’t know what the judgement will be, but whatever it may be, one thing is for sure. There’s going to be lots of smoke in the air. Now it is not inevitable, it can be stopped, but the question is who? when?................. You? Me?

Of course, WE, no one else, but WE!

Now it is up to us whether we get influenced and spread venom or inspire and transform lives, whether we become followers and tarnish the bond or lead and make it stronger, whether we become the swords and kill our brothers and sisters or resurrect pillars of support for those who are in desperate need of us.So it’s very important that we choose, but what’s more important is that we choose wisely.

Final dream of a dreamer

I don’t know why I was dragged away from brightness

Until a ray of hope dawned to me after being in darkness;

Safely kept the precious bits from the wreck

I’m tired and really need a break;

Till the river runs dry,I’ll sail my vessel

Facing each day as a constant battle;

Tranforming all my dreams & hopes is impossible

But I’d try to reach my destination and that’s possible…

--------(Composed by me a month back)

All my life, I was a dreamer (but people still thought I was pragmatic).But when I woke from a dream and looked around, I saw that the world had changed a lot since I last knew it. People had learnt how to hate, how to hurt, how to kill. I shrank from this sight with a palpitating heart…feeling like a newborn…confused on entering completely new surroundings, after the safety of mother’s womb (reality is always bitter than a dream).I saw, I heard, I felt. But I couldn’t comprehend what I saw, heard or felt. It was all so new, so unknown. I was missing the serenity and was perplexed, totally unprepared to face the pains & pangs of life. I retreated into myself, searching for the peaceful, loving world I’d always known, within the recesses of my own mind.

I got so caught up in this quest, that I hardly realized that the world was passing by me, time was flying, without so much as a second backward glance at me, standing as I was, motionless, waiting for things to make sense. The old, familiar faces had given way to cold, unfeeling strangers. Simplicity had given way to a complicated web of forced words, forced gestures, forced emotions. Then a face emerged – angelic in its very familiarity, warm in the very memories it invoked. My heart was gladdened to see something from the darkness, to have an assurance that the world I knew had not been a mere dream.

But before I could touch that well-loved face, it lost all its warmth and familiarity, and became the face of one of those cold, masked strangers, which was all I had seen around me. That’s when I fell into a perpetual darkness, knowing that all that had been mine, was gone, and all that was new and intimidating, would have to be accepted as my own. Soon…the dreamer had dreamt her final dream and now there would be no more retreats, no more dreams. Now, I had to forget and move on, catch the fleeting time and ride it into the last sunset…

(P.S. I was actually about to write a post on CWG or Kashmir Issue or Ayodhya verdict, but some random thoughts creeped into my mind while sitting alone at this time of a full moon night)

Think outside the shell...!!!

If you were to go to your window and throw a stone into the street, it would probably hit an engineer(no offence to engineers reading this,but this is the fact). The whole place is teeming with them...the engineering/medicine students in India outdo entire populations of certain European countries. The lure of sciences in our country is maddening to a certain extent. The various possible reasons for this mad rush can only be explained on the basis of a detailed social study.

The first and foremost incentive to medicine/engineering is the economic stability it provides. India is one of the fastest developing economies in the world and relies heavily on its IT sector. The western countries look upon India as the land which provides them with the largest pool of doctors and scientists. In the premier space research institution, NASA, 36% of the scientists are Indian. So even though the recession did make some hearts skip a beat, it’s needless to say that an engineer will never be out of a job(but job skips are rampant). In the same vein, it’s highly unlikely for a doctor to go jobless in India (a private clinic being a very viable venture). Another aspect to it is the obscene amounts of money that can be amassed in as little a time as say 10 years. The parental pressure angle can never be negated as many mediocre kids who don’t have the aptitude for science are pushed off the cliff into the scientific sea by their family.Its disheartening to see students who in their school days wanted to be nothing less than a movie star or the Prime Minister and ended up in lousy engineering or medical colleges and are now contemplating their futures through a dusty microscope.

This leads to a dearth of talented people in various other walks of life. How many great sportspersons or musicians can India boast of? The answer is just a fistful. There is a diversion from natural inclinations to forced identities which scars the human mind beyond repair. The suicide rates of potential engineers and doctors have sky-rocketed in the past few years in response to unreal expectations from family. Another flaw in the system is the mushrooming of coaching centers which promise entry into premier institutions provided you are ready to pay through your nose....the ironic part is that it’s failed professionals who teach in these centers.If they couldn’t get their lives straight, what makes you think they can set yours straight(a usual thought by students for inept Profs)? Year after year it is proven that it is the students who do not enroll in coaching centers that secure the top positions hence negating the role of coaching centers.

The best way to deal with this situation would be the introduction of multiple new subjects in the high school curriculum....subjects like mass communication would provide children with an opportunity to widen their interest zone and give them space to splash around while they’re still young. The popular perception of society needs a makeover and people need to accept the fact that there are extremely good prospects beyond the sphere of science.There is nothing wrong in choosing a career which is not usually heard from peers(rights and wrongs were not defined at the time of earth’s creation,right!).Let’s hope for not too distant a future in which people all around the globe look to India with respect for our legion of virtuosos and not merely (in their words) .............. “science nerds”.

Is religion a way to spirituality...?

''This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness”

– Dalai Lama

Call him Ram or call him Allah, it makes no difference. Erect a temple on every corner or hang a photo of him on every wall, it makes no difference. Until and unless we keep him in our heart and his teachings in our actions we won’t be able to discover the essence of our being. Being religious can be a way to being spiritual , if we are able to find what religion actually means. Religion is feeding the poor; it’s not fasting once in a week and doing evil the rest of the time. Religion is providing shelter to the homeless; it’s not making temples on every vacant space. We just have enough religion to make us hate but not enough to make us love.


Etymologically the word “Religion” is derived from the Latin word ligare meaning connect or bind. Logically then, Religion is means to connect to god. Sensible enough- except, I have to ask, how are we supposed to form a meaningful connection with the invisible, supernatural power? Rather than trying indistinctly trying to form connections with the uncaring blue sky, we have a better kind of religion down here on the earth. HUMANITY, which meaningfully unites us by teaching the astounding truth that we belong to the same mental tribe.


The religion of humanity does not makes us realize the ways ina which we are different but the similarities we share. It teaches us the truth that our similarities are so deep and so pervasive as to completely overwhelm the comparatively shallow things that divide us from each other. Since there is one world, there should be one true description of it. If the religious beliefs were based on this fact, then we might expect them to converge eventually; but this is not the case. Differences in caste and creed still rule us. We still feel apathy to be with a lower caste human being. Why this discrimination when we all belong to the same cosmos, we all experience the same emotions.


Who are they to differentiate between a Hindu and Muslim when there is Ram in “Ramzan” and Ali in “Diwali”. Humanity lies in the spiritual aspect of a person. The more we involve ourselves in reaching out to the needy, the more spiritual we become. Spirituality involves knowing the inner self. As Dalai Lama said, humanity should be our religion, and love, kindness, compassion our tools to achieve spiritualism… All we need is compassion. Empathy for each other. Peace within ourselves. Introspection is a great way to find the way to the inner self. Speak kindly. Care Deeply. Love generously. Humanity truly stands out to be the only religion of love, peace and kindness. So let’s embrace humanity and start a new way of life, a new vision, a new destiny for the generations to come.

Juxtaposing promises and actions of President Barack Obama

When humanity is too much engrossed in sins,there comes a Krishna or Christ to sanctify it;when slavery becomes intolerable,then comes a Gandhi to show the path of freedom;and when cunning leaders exploit the gullible masses too much and people hope for a ‘change’ from monotony…then there is Obama.Bravo!!He is a fantastically rare mix of intelligence,consistency,inspiration,hope,charisma and humanity .And adding to the glut of my wonderment how Obama is this generation’s J.F.Kennedy.I have never seen such intense emotion surrounding a leader as that evoked by Barack Obama and people the world over are imbued with “hope” and chant Obama’s slogan “Yes,we can!”

Undoubtedly,I was a great admirer of Barack Hussein Obama until I was convinced that he has broken promises that he has made during his campaign,victory speech and oath-taking ceremony as the 44th president of the United States of America(America’s first Black President). Its quite disturbing when U.S.Presidents break their campaign promises;it is more disturbing to watch one behave as a puppet for Wall Street. If we look at the people that Obama had put on his appointments list, it's all Wall Street. It's government of Wall Street, by Wall Street, and for Wall Street. There's nobody from heavy industry. There's nobody from the auto sector. Nobody from Silicon Valley. Nobody from big oil. Nobody from defense. No labor, no women, no retirees, no small business, nothing. It's pure Wall Street. The only people who have a voice in Obama's councils are Wall Street finance oligarchs.It's the most extreme Wall Street administration America ever had.

Obama promised to "eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses." People who invest in small businesses have only been allowed to exclude 50 percent of that gain from capital gains taxes. While Obama's $787 billion economic-stimulus package reduces that tax liability – raising the exclusion to 75 percent – it does not eliminate it. During his transition,he's promised to provide a $3,000 refundable tax credit to existing businesses for every additional full-time U.S. employee hired in 2009 and 2010. His promise was never included in the stimulus package.He pledged to make college "affordable for all Americans" when he announced his American Opportunity Tax Credit. While the American Opportunity Tax Credit was included in the recent stimulus bill, it offers a credit of only $2,500 for up to two years and requires no commitment to community service.He promised to offset the cost of his national service plan with tax law changes and savings from the Iraq war. But he hasn't done so.His promise to apply windfall taxes on big oil companies was also broken.Bear in mind there’s a load of “No Action” promises about taxes.

On the White House website, the Obama administration claims it will be "the most open and transparent in history. But the truth is too far from his claiming.Nonetheless,during his campaign and after he took office, Obama maintained that his administration would have an unyielding commitment to transparency. Obama promised America he would loosen the grip of lobbyists on Washington. It wasn't long before he allowed at least two dozen exceptions and broke his promise.

On his campaign website, Obama promised he would "remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months." Even as combat troops are brought home, Pentagon officials have said fresh units will continue deploying to Iraq.He neither got US troops out of Iraq in 16 months nor brought charges against Bush admin(war crimes).The dismal litany of his broken promises is endless.

I still wonder Obama is convincing the U.S people that he is “The One” who’ll bring about transformation and change.But the bitter truth is he is the perfect Trojan Horse.He makes the people feel like they finally have a place at the table, even as he betrays them.His followers may have felt a jolt when the myth about the ‘change-agent’ met the reality. Sadly,there are still many Obama supporters who can't see what's right in front of their faces, because they've already invested their very identity in this artificially created cult movement.The monikers applied to Obama(‘The Saviour’, ‘The Messiah’), reflect a real spirit that has imbued millions, and this is why far scarier than Obama are his followers. They have deified the man, and you don’t question your god. I truly believe that just as many Germans followed Hitler during WWII, there are many Americans today who would follow Obama unquestioningly, unthinkingly, unknowingly — into the fires of Hell.

President Obama is working for the same interests that Bush served ,the very interest engineering the financial collapse and formation of a dictatorial.He says one thing and does another.He has no intention of keeping his moderate election promises.He may provide excuses, but he still would be deceiving.And I wont hesitate to epithet the Obama deception as ‘the greatest political deception’!!