Saturday, April 29, 2006

xmpp-im-client

Not really sure if how many would be interested , but I have started a project xmpp-im-client.
The focus behind this project is more educational and less on functionality/feature rich/rich UI.
It can ofcourse be taken and extended to suit your requirements.
Here is the post detailing more about it.
Even though the xmpp library in collab.netbeans.org would be one of the only opensource java api that is available online , very few people know about it ...
This hinders both contributions to it , developers using it and general awareness about it for users for extensions , feedback about it , etc.
Hopefully, the blog series about it will address this to some extent ! (not here , at my work blog :-) )

2 Comments:

Blogger Kousik said...

Good stuff, and all the best.

Wondering if it can be a gaim plugin too. If the only implementation of the protocol is available in Java, it may be hard.

What about using "gaim" as a plugin to xmpp? We have to write a JNI layer, then. Maybe better than integrating a JVM in gaim ... :-)

4/29/2006 02:31:00 PM  
Blogger Mridul said...

Maybe I was not clear enough in my description :-)
There is an opensource IM api which is being actively developed and used in 2 other projects that I know of.
But there is a high barrier of entry - since there is not much reference code around to use this api.
On the other hand , I am convinced of the 'power of xmpp' ... so intention is to allow developers to access a working client written in the most readable way possible (as much as I can document it ;-) ).
Developer can either use this as the base to build more , or learn from it and write him own !

5/01/2006 07:05:00 PM  

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Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Timings

Of late , my timings have gone from weird to seriously wacky !
I 'wake up' at around 12:30 - 1:30 in the afternoon : actually this is highly variable - but one thing is for sure , chances of my answering my phone before this is highly doubtful ;-)
Start off with lunch and things go on 'normal'.
At around 2 or so at night , usually I stop working seriously and start dabbling in other projects , chat with friends , read up on blogs (now you know why my blog comments are at weird times :-D ) , play counterstrike/Civ4/etc.
At 5 - 6 am , I have my 'breakfast' and then sleep - yes , you read that right , I have my 'breakfast' and then sleep :-)

Now , the 'benefits' of this : I dont miss a meal and have pretty stable timings for past few weeks now I guess.
Drawbacks ? You could write a whole bloody PHd thesis on that , so will skip it for now !
Compared to sleeping at 2 - 3 , this seems to work out better :-)

1 Comments:

Blogger V said...

As long as you eat all the meals, we can live with all those disadvantages.

4/26/2006 11:30:00 AM  

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Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Mother hen

Of the many friends that I have, only one of them fits the description of 'mother hen'.
The way we behave with/around her is reminiscent of the way chickens behave around hen ...
Just like the namesake , she takes exceedingly good care of us all - worrying , taking care , scolding us , pampering us and always being there when we need her !
Miss you ma hen , here's to wishing you a fast and safe journey back to India !

PS : You owe me about a truck load of Gajjar ka halwa already ;-)

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Friday, April 21, 2006

State of "news channels" in India

In the recent issue of the Indian magazine "The Week" (april 23,2006) , there is an article by Antara Dev Sen under the column "I Witness" titled "Live, uncensored porn".
It is a scathing commentry about the current state of Indian media (TV) journalism . The specific incident she mentions is about some goof-up which happened in Indian Fashion week ... and the way media reacted in a downright vulgar and irresponsible manner (skin sells !) bordering on yellow journalism. Very interesting read.

It has been my opinion for sometime that , since the advent of the various 'news channels' , things have gone from bad to worse for TV journalism. There is a high degree of stress on sensationalism ... a emphasis on marketting every bit of news out there , to squeeze any possible viewership out of every nugget of info presented.
It is downright depressing and sometimes vulgar the way these guys run around trying to get the 'scoop' on things. They are so insensitive to the feeling of the people involved (they mouth the right words , and their actions are the opposite - the IISc incident from last year comes to mind) ...
The various 'reality shows' are crass violation of privacy, and the 'debates' are just some way for various groups to sling mud on each other.... the more mud they sling , the better !
I seriously hope good journalism comes back to being mainstay again - the kind which highlighted important issues : the ones which mattered to the country.

6 Comments:

Blogger Kousik said...

I guess they have a target like they have to bring in 5 "breaking news" per day. And I can't believe the way the wardrobe malfunctions were covered. When they were reading the news, the same scene of 5 seconds were continuously playing in the background, like a 20KB animated gif pr0n downloaded via a flacky telephone line we used to relish in our school days.

4/21/2006 07:38:00 PM  
Blogger Mridul said...

@kousik
ROFL , nice description ... that is exactly how I felt when I saw it !
By the way , if you noticed the way they covered the Pramod Mahajan incident this weekend ... they were just reinforcing what I posted :-(
They made it into some sort of entertainment show !
Live updates and on the fly interviews for more 'spicy' coverage ... sick

4/23/2006 11:35:00 PM  
Blogger Moonjungle said...

I swear man! Politicians have such staying power, even after accquiring a bullet collection in his bloody liver. The people of Mumbai need more holidays, why doesn't he keel over.

4/24/2006 04:52:00 PM  
Blogger Mridul Kashatria said...

Has anybody heard any news about science & technology in Indian News Channels. You know, they don't bother about this. All they want to tell us is from which college graduates gets maximum salary. Ever heard about any invention, discovery kind of thing?
Also, whole of the world is facing enviornmental problems and media here is still covering politics.
I personally like to see BBC World, they cover all subjects nicely, including climate change. What do you say?
-----------
Sun Energy World

4/24/2006 11:07:00 PM  
Blogger Mridul Kashatria said...

Hey, I'm Mridul Kashatria. Not the author of this site.

4/24/2006 11:09:00 PM  
Blogger Mridul said...

@ guru

In a way you are right - he does have a tenacious grip !
But then , in this case I am ok with him trying to make a comeback - me in his shoes : I would want to come back and kick my brother's ass royally for pulling this stunt on me - KO before I am ready ! WTF cheater !!

@ Mridul Kashatria
You gave me a shock there when I saw the comment notifications - when did I post those comments !
Interesting points : and I totally agree about science not being covered.
Actually art is also not really covered - except when there is explict glamour involved I guess.
I 'lost' faith in BBC when I saw the way in which they covered gulf war : they were dishing out war propoganda :-(

4/25/2006 12:35:00 AM  

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Sunday, April 16, 2006

Miyamoto Musashi

I had come across a collection of three movies which are an adaptation of a book by Eiji Yoshikawa. I have never been exposed to his works , so did not really know what to expect.
The movies were titled Samurai 1 , 2 and 3 (with episode names) : very barebones you can say. Since I had a really long weekend , I hit upon the idea of watching one each day.

I dont know whom I should applaud - Hiroshi Inagaki for the direction , the actors for the brilliant performance , the screenplay adaptation , the cinematography ... : all were superlative imo - but one thing is for sure , Eiji Yoshikawa has written a masterpiece which allowed for such a powerful movie.
There are so many subtle touches in the acting , the nuances , the emotions ... ok , ok bottomline - I just loved it way too much , so should stop gushing like a teenager :-P
Not sure how faithful the movie is to the original work : but it sure is a powerful piece of cinema.
Very highly recommended ... the only drawback - I think I missed some of the subtitles.

The movies I saw : Miyamoto Musashi , Zoku Miyamoto Musashi: Ichijôji no kettô and Miyamoto Musashi kanketsuhen: kettô Ganryûjima.

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Social commentary

I have been following Scott Adam's blog for quite sometime now ... nearly since he started writing it. What I found really interesting was the way he ridicules or comments on existing social practises , norms and dogmas which sparks off lively debates ... and he does this in his own inimitable style - really fun to read and makes you laugh out , even when he is making fun of what you believe in :-)
His style is essentially confrontational - so that there is maximum debate I guess :-) but the points he raises are sometimes extraordinary (atleast to me) ... usually , he tends to bring about both poles of the argument and rubbishes both ;-)
As the DNRC newsletter says , his blog is a "bitter ray of sunshine" in my life atleast !

1 Comments:

Blogger Mridul said...

@Ironwindsail
Never seen south park ... heard it is good though (you see a lot of people with 'south park'ish avataars of themselves :-) )
I used to enjoy Becker when I was a more active TV viewer ... sarcasm is just right for my taste :-)

4/23/2006 11:33:00 PM  

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Thursday, April 13, 2006

Open ESB

Ron Ten-Hove is back to posting aggressively : and they are a treat to read !
I know next to nothing about EAI and reading his posts are great fun and allows me to correlate and better understand a lot of things Matt used to discuss about.

By the way , openesb is opensourced - give it a whirl : this means , you get a fully functionally ESB with source to play around with !

I downloaded glassfish and openesb yesterday and have started fooling around with it.
Maybe I will write a binding component or an engine ... let us see :-)

*edit* Removed the actual details of what I want to try ... I think this might make it to my work someday , so better keep it under wraps until then :-)

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Friday, April 07, 2006

Bangalore going to the dogs

Hmm , that would be insulting to dogs ... just used that as an expression.
Let me see , we have :
1) Increasing power shortage - which has really worsened in the past few months : for whatever reason ! (Yep , right now no power at my house ... again X-( )
2) Roads are a mess and traffic is unbearable !
3) Water shortage has been dogging this place for like ages - and it is progressively becoming worse !
4) Everyday , without fail , in page 2 & 3 you will notive a multitude of crimes committed - which are reported : god knows how many are perpetuated and not reported !

When I came to Bangalore almost 5 years back , it looked like a pretty cool place : nice weather , reasonably quiet , comparatively low traffic and pollution , and no power or water problem that I knew of in general.
Every year hence has only worsened the situation ... so much so that , what used to be a surety that I will settle down here when I came here , is now pretty much a surety that I *will not* settle down here given a choice.

I seriously hope something gets done soon ...
Every other city seems to be making progress while Bangalore goes the opposite way - case to point , my expierences at Madras this weekend : the transformation of the place since I was last there is pretty astonishing - this inspite of having being warned about it !

This rant is sponspored by the pathetic power condition in Bangalore - no power at home now !

15 Comments:

Blogger Kousik said...

Bangalore is making progress. Backwards. Never lived in worse condition before.

A lazy morning I thought I'll work from home, and avoid all these hassles. And then power went off. At least office runs on generator. So I started for office. By then it was too late; and traffic was even worse. Got doubly punished.

Let us do something about it. Though I wonder what.

4/08/2006 12:05:00 AM  
Blogger cRaY3 said...

move to mumbai..no water shortage, no load shedding and no shit.

4/08/2006 12:48:00 PM  
Blogger Mridul said...

@ Kousik
I have issues with traffic even though I stay like 5 mins away from office - by walk !
Things have never been so bad , and the worst of it all is - it is going to detreiorate more I feel :-( I really like this place : most of my friends are here ... would be a shame if I have to leave !

@ cray3
Parents are in Bombay now - was working from home for 6+ months ... and trust me , inspite of the occasional trips to Bangalore , it is worth staying in Bombay.
Only gripe I have with Bombay is - everything is so far off ! 45 mins journey is "nearby" for mumbaikars :-) Need to usually travel 2+ hours just to meet friends !!
Bombay and Pune (which is where folks were before they moved 2 years back) - both seem to be pretty decent place to settle down in ...

4/08/2006 06:19:00 PM  
Blogger anup said...

hmmm....
givin blore a rap in the pants seems to be the thing aint it ! I hate the traffic as much as the next guy ! and my god mg road on sun... its wud be so bad that it wud make a priest think twice whether he really needs to go for a sermon...
but in all this mess there is one heaven and it goes by the name of pecos... it almost makes up for the crap that blore has become

4/09/2006 10:00:00 PM  
Blogger emanish said...

Pune is also not the same city it used be 5yrs back my parents staying ther say, but on my occasional visits to Pune i find it much better than bangalore.
sbds gotta to do sth abt it.. as rightly said, what ?

4/10/2006 01:48:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nowadays it has become fashionable for some people to criticize anything that does not serve their selfish demands. Most well paid techies are selfish, intolerant, impatient, irresponsible and have total disregard for civic sense as one can see from their behaviour in public places. They are corrupt of a different kind. Most guys who only talk of Bangalore infrastructure forget that it as qualified coolies their own contribution to the city is zilch. Bangalore can survive without the money they spend which was in the first place earned by heartless and amoral means. Y should every MNC come to bangalore only?? These are the ones who are choking bangalorem to DEATH.

4/10/2006 10:05:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well Said! I wonder why people always like to complain, but I guess it is inherent human nature. There was a peaceful green city once upon a time with happy people in it who earnt way less than the current generation. People never cared about all these materialistic stuff that has been taken over the place by craze. By2 coffee to Barista seems to be a kind of lifestyle change. All these people who have problems with Bangalore need to question their own conscious and see what they are doing to improve the situation as part of their everyday routine. Being proactive is the solution, every city that grows will go through many changes and there is certainly a phase where it is worse than other stages compounded with bad planning. I wonder how many educated people spit on the road, still continue to bribe, do any kind of community service (not giving money away from your paycheck). I can go on and on with many more things that the so called educated people do and I call them "Educated fools". There would probably be no effect on anyone reading this, but I being an ex-Bangalorean and with my family still there, will always thrive to make that place better for a better world.

4/11/2006 12:39:00 AM  
Blogger Mridul said...

@anup
This was not a 'give blr a rap when it is down' post :-)
Just a simple guys frustration with this place ...
I was just commenting on the very very rapid decline here !
Note - I was referring to the very basic requirements of a city - no mention about cost of living , exorbitant land prices , etc , etc.

@manish
sis just passed out from Pune , and she says it is still quite ok ...
My only gripe with Pune is it gets too cold : but then I find blr too cold too :-)
Being from Kerala makes you expect only two seasons - rain and no rain :-D

@anonymous 1 and anonymous 2 (anyway related to each other ? If not , please use atleast a pseudonym) :
You do not need to be hyper sensitive to any and every critisism :-)
Whatever be the reasons , there is rapid detreoration of standard of living here - and that cannot be wished away.
The argument of - leave blr to natives is no tenable ... last time I checked , it was part of India : not a seperate country :-P
Also , blaming IT for all woe's is trying to pass the buck - they were invited actively to Bangalore.
IT companies continue to be woo'ed and any loss of face vis'a'vis other IT centers in India is taken as personal injury by all ;-)
Dont forget , the revenue generated is not minimal and the growth potential if properly tapped is nontrivial.
That being said , people who emigrate to Bangalore should try to improve conditions here - no doubt about it.
For me , and many others , this is the adopted hometown for now - and should be treated as such.
If you want a shining example of where this has actually worked out - look at Bombay.
Laziness and lack of initiative in improving the conditions should not result in blaming IT/BPO/BIOTECH/etc.
Not really sure what an individual can do to improve basic necessities like power , water , etc - frugal use can be one a way, what else ?!

4/11/2006 01:22:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why are we talking about Mumbai and Pune, it only those people who have blocked Bangalore today. Even if today all Mumbai and Pune people leave city, Bangalore stays beautiful forever.

On a serious side, action like introducing city trains would reduce the traffic. Also big companies should start up their own township near to their office location, like Hindustan Aeronautic limited, or BHEL or BEML or like any other classic limited companies. This will not only reduce the kios in the city but also give peace for the employee who work for the companies. Companies also should start adopting the outskirts of the Bangalore and built up their own township. Big Bees like Infosys, IBM, Wipro should start it so the rest of leaders also follow up. Its not laptops and Ipod what employee needs today for motivation, they need a house where they could stay peace committed to one company at for the loyalty. Employee will not only be happy but also will stick to their companies. Then chance of growth is also at medium pace in terms of kios population.

4/12/2006 07:14:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

5 years ago before you/ people like you came to Bangalore it was green, non-polluted and a honest city. Now it has "turned to dogs"!!! Isn't that a funny co-incidence??? Well, IT's NOT, U and People like you are responsible for the state of the current Bangalore. If not for the materialistic interests of u'r kind banglore would not have been what it is now. What has the city gained from you??? NADA!!! What have you gained from the City??? A job, place to live, money!!! Why did you come to Bangalore in the first place?? Do Bangalore and all Bangaloreans a huge favor and go back where you came from...we have stopped entertaining bloody immigrants.

4/13/2006 10:44:00 AM  
Blogger Mridul said...

I wrote a long comment as response explaining my stand : and deleted it for this one ...
The way I read the comments above , looks like some of you cannot understand or appreciate what I wrote above - hence , there is no point in getting into a discussion here about it.
Bottomline : my opinion is - bangalore is going to the dogs.
Reason ? There has been almost no infrastructure work happening , and what is happening is being done so at a snails pace. You cannot increase the city population by 10x+ and expect it to continue on the infrastructure from 15+ years back.
You want to grow the city ,attract more talent and investment - cough up and improve the situation.
Once the companies and people start leaving this place , it will be Bangalore that will lose .. unlike previously , now there are large number of other hubs and cities where the companies can relocate to.

4/13/2006 05:01:00 PM  
Blogger Mridul said...

PS :
Abusing from people I dont know personally will not be tolerated - I will moderate if I find any comment offensive.
I appreciate the time and effort you took in reading and responding , so let us keep any discussion here civil.

4/13/2006 05:05:00 PM  
Blogger Moonjungle said...

Instead of moderation, I propose genocide. Starting with the two anonymous have nots. All those who made comments abt pollution, should better be walking to work.

I particularly like these creative phrases: 'heartless & amoral means'. Manjunath Ramamurthy's 'honest city'. Fuck where do these ppl crawl out from. honestly, I believe Anon 2 has some valid points.

I also believe that all cities r going through the same shit. Only in Banglaore we have an IT peg to blame things on. Other cities have dance bars.

I'm an Indian first & foremost. I also know that the national sport of bathing & dodging shit on the roads & in our lives must change. Adaptability isn't a great quality always.

4/14/2006 10:43:00 AM  
Blogger cRaY3 said...

anons rock my world..anons cheer up the blogosphere...life sucks without them.

4/17/2006 03:53:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mr Surendra Babu,

I certainly can't accept your argument regarding people belonging to Bombay or Delhi leave Bangalore, to make it better.
Do you know how many non Bambaiites live in Bombay? If the folks living in Bombay telles the non Bambaiites to leave Bombay, do you think Bangalore will be able to accomodate them?
Same goes for Delhi, Calcutta as well.

Also Bangalore is getting known for it's Tech setups. How many good institutes like IIT's/REC's Bangalore have to support the hiring needs of the Tech companies? What if all IITians, NITians refuse to come to Bangalore? Do you think any of the Tech companies will keep there set up there?

Look at Delhi , how it has setup so many satellite towns to cater it needs, and so it is bagging the Commonwealth Games.

4/19/2006 10:01:00 PM  

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Thursday, April 06, 2006

Use solaris to optimise linux apps ?

Check this out !
When I read of stuff like this , makes me thrilled at the possibilities ... and also makes me feel like a loser for not doing anything remotely as innovative :-)
It is not that they just wrote the code ... but they bloody well use it so innovatively also !!

Ok , back to bugfixing ... :-(

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