BAGELS!!!!

All the Indians who have never heard of Bagels... Hail The Bagel!!

Ya I know, u think whats this post is all about. The answer is simple. Its about bagel. Its like a bun with a hole.

So my first job in Syracuse was with Blinker's Bagels. Crazy me thought Bagels would be the name of a guy. Then came the tough part.

Had to remember all the different types of bagles...asigo, dried tomato,blueberry.. the list is huge plus the different toppings and garnish. Also the different beverages and what not. Somehow managed through it.

So next time you see me with a black cap and a T Shirt, i'll probably ask you: Blinker's bagel, How may i help you :)

Tai Chi

Today was my first Tai Chi class. Yi had agreed to coach me. I thought it would be quite easy but man it really is difficult. I just learnt how to walk naturally. He also told me to do a WANG which is a gesture like pushing with outstreched palm... but doing it naturally with the flow.
It was awesome, although it was tiring but feeling the blood flow through your limbs is a great experience and it is unlike anything I had experienced before.

Although he agreed to teach me twice a week I suspended the class until i practiced walking perfectly. Well it wud really be kewl to add Tai Chi in my resume.

BTW Syracuse is what i call a global village... i have made many friends from other countries. My project mate is Jorge (its pronounced as Josh). He's from Costa Rica and is a geek in real sense.

Niagra Impresionante

www.flickr.com

Went to Niagra this saturday.... Man it was great.

Uploaded a few fotos in flickr ..just click the above picture to see all of them...
Niagra was really a spectacle. The whole environment was so wonderful. Apart from savouring the sheer beauty and vastness of mother nature I made some great friends. One of them is Brandon. If I write anything about him now it wouldn't be fair... i will dedicate one whole entry to him... we discussed lot of theology and philosophy.

Another good friend i made was Yi (though we became friends before this trip...met him at the dean's reception). He is another great guy doing his Phd in electronics. He is teaching me Tai Chi :)

The cultural diversity here is great. I am starting to love Syracuse.

Fear of mediocrity

Last year i had posted about Google's Topcoder competition...
this post is dedicated to the same thing.

I kindda thot it wud be good to give my best shot to this contest again... but somehow it gives me more creeps than my regular exams (i didn't get scared even when i was coming here at Syracuse...)

So i started coding right away at 12:00 EDT... and everything started falling apart. I opted for Java instead of my favorite C/C++ cuz had kindda lost touch with them (had been doing J2EE for the last 6 months... followed by a brief period of programming on C/D on Solaris)...
To start with the app hanged... the browser closed itself... i fired firefox... and started coding again... i was longing for eclipse... I wanted my programs to auto complete.. now u wud ask why???? Because I DID NOT KNOW THE METHODS OF SOME CLASSES...
so i fired javaalmanac.com and started lookin out and coding the 250 pointer (the easiest one)...
but alas in the confusion I lost track of time and i pressed the submit button after my time got expired. I did not even look at the 750 pointer.

I hate my self for the mess.... i hate not succeeding at something i know i am good at.... my performance shook my soul... If there is anything i fear in this world apart from God... it is mediocrity, of losing out...
I HEREBY RESOLVE TO SHOW MY METTLE IN THE NEXT TOPCODER.... HERE I COME GOOGLE ....YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

My First Notebook

Finally got my first laptop...
www.deals2buy.com
Its Dell Inspiron 600m (customized)... closed the deal for $1061 only including the delivery & carry bag. (after a discount of $600)

Well Dell is kind of official laptop of all Indian student as it is the cheapest (hey we r not cheap... just less spendthrift)... the other junta goes for macs (kewl dudes..), sony vios( rich guys) or hp/toshibas (different ;)

Man i'm in love with it and really cant wait for it to get delivered. I just ordered it so will probably be getting it next week sometime.
It has PM 1.6 GHz, 1 Gb RAM, 80 GB hard disk, wifi b/g, bluetooth enabled and really cool. I got a printer free with it... and of course i'll be sellin it out on amazon or ebay. :-)

I cant really wait for it....