Posted by
Arun
comments (2)
So recently, the linux craze has been catching many, including me. Even right now, I'm on Ubuntu 9.04. The main reason being the long booting time for windows – not to mention the time for the start-up services to load. Yet I feel, maybe since I'm used to working on windows for around 10 years, something is missing in linux – I guess I can even say some things “are “ missing.
Nautilus
The file explorer seems too primitive to me. We are so much used to the comfort of windows explorer. And I couldn't fins a proper replacement. XFE was sort of okay (it resembled windows explorer somewhat), but it didn't have NTFS support.
Video Codecs
If I try playing RMVB files with low bitrate on VLC, it keep stopping every now and then. So I use totem for that one. Makes me miss Media Player Classic, which played every video file perfectly.
Task Manager
Ubuntu doesn't have a task manager, though I suppose Mandriva does. And if an application stops functioning (many believe it never happens in linux, but trust me - linux ain't so fool proof either), there are times I just move it to another workspace, coz there's nothing left to do. Of course, if you have a “Force Quit” button on hand, it's useful.
Download Manager
Even after SK Downloader, Wget, Gwget, Tucan, etc etc, I feel the lack of a proper non java-based download manager, which supports multi-threaded downloads – something like IDM in short. If anyone knows of any such application, do lemme know.
Unclean Shutdown
Every time you don't shutdown the system properly, you'll have to go through the pain of disk-checking and sometimes, running the fsck command to correct the inode errors. I wish it would auto-correct all the time and stop asking my permission for correcting each and every error.
Yet, I'll stick to Ubuntu coz in spite of this this, it's way faster than windows. And it has it's own advantages. I've high hopes pinned on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala – maybe it can make me forget windows once and for all.
Nautilus
The file explorer seems too primitive to me. We are so much used to the comfort of windows explorer. And I couldn't fins a proper replacement. XFE was sort of okay (it resembled windows explorer somewhat), but it didn't have NTFS support.
Video Codecs
If I try playing RMVB files with low bitrate on VLC, it keep stopping every now and then. So I use totem for that one. Makes me miss Media Player Classic, which played every video file perfectly.
Task Manager
Ubuntu doesn't have a task manager, though I suppose Mandriva does. And if an application stops functioning (many believe it never happens in linux, but trust me - linux ain't so fool proof either), there are times I just move it to another workspace, coz there's nothing left to do. Of course, if you have a “Force Quit” button on hand, it's useful.
Download Manager
Even after SK Downloader, Wget, Gwget, Tucan, etc etc, I feel the lack of a proper non java-based download manager, which supports multi-threaded downloads – something like IDM in short. If anyone knows of any such application, do lemme know.
Unclean Shutdown
Every time you don't shutdown the system properly, you'll have to go through the pain of disk-checking and sometimes, running the fsck command to correct the inode errors. I wish it would auto-correct all the time and stop asking my permission for correcting each and every error.
Yet, I'll stick to Ubuntu coz in spite of this this, it's way faster than windows. And it has it's own advantages. I've high hopes pinned on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala – maybe it can make me forget windows once and for all.
Posted by
Arun
comments (0)
So with the new hostel in place and another one coming up in due course of time, the authorities really seemed to be concerned about its maintenance. And they did take up some steps – yet life isn't actually comfortable...
I wonder how many homes have Jaguar taps, lets alone hostels. Yet, we have 'em – Jaguar taps each costing a grand, maybe even more. But the bottom line still remains the same – who's bothered about the quality of the tap when you have no water coming through them. It seemed that watre was coming 24 by 7 for a few days. And ironically, water stopped coming the next morning after these “exquisite” fittings were installed. Yet another case of “so near, yet so far”.
And everyday, we have guys coming in with brooms, vacuum cleaners et all knocking on our doors, asking if we want our rooms to be cleaned. I still remember having a tough time trying to get the room cleaned in 7th block. So this definitely is an improvement. However, I really find no need for it – most of the students, since it's a single room, keep their room clean by themselves. But it'll help those who are really too lazy to even sweep their own room.
Even then, these authorities who are so concerned about the maintenance of the rooms in which we live, turn a blind eye towards the quality of food we are supposed to eat. I say “supposed to eat” coz many don't eat in the food court, including me.
So all-in-all, I feel they're trying to provide accomodation to mechanised robots of sorts, who need no water and food to survive – just a well-maintained to room. And unfortunately, we ended up in that place...
I wonder how many homes have Jaguar taps, lets alone hostels. Yet, we have 'em – Jaguar taps each costing a grand, maybe even more. But the bottom line still remains the same – who's bothered about the quality of the tap when you have no water coming through them. It seemed that watre was coming 24 by 7 for a few days. And ironically, water stopped coming the next morning after these “exquisite” fittings were installed. Yet another case of “so near, yet so far”.
And everyday, we have guys coming in with brooms, vacuum cleaners et all knocking on our doors, asking if we want our rooms to be cleaned. I still remember having a tough time trying to get the room cleaned in 7th block. So this definitely is an improvement. However, I really find no need for it – most of the students, since it's a single room, keep their room clean by themselves. But it'll help those who are really too lazy to even sweep their own room.
Even then, these authorities who are so concerned about the maintenance of the rooms in which we live, turn a blind eye towards the quality of food we are supposed to eat. I say “supposed to eat” coz many don't eat in the food court, including me.
So all-in-all, I feel they're trying to provide accomodation to mechanised robots of sorts, who need no water and food to survive – just a well-maintained to room. And unfortunately, we ended up in that place...
Posted by
Arun
comments (4)
So, as everyone who has known me would already know, I’ve always been a train-lover. I just used to love travelling by trains. Even though the probability of trains being on time in India is almost never equal to unity, it never amounted to much. So it was pretty much ok for me… But recently the railways management seems to have let things go out of hand and I’ve been experiencing a series of events which can be termed a fiasco in the common vocabulary…
October 4, 2009
I had a confirmed ticket on train no. 7604 Yesvantpur-Kacheguda Express, scheduled to depart from Yesvantpur in Bangalore at 4:15 in the evening. Saturday evening onwards, Indian railways on its official site indianrail.gov.in claims that the train is cancelled due to the floods in Kurnool and other districts. So on Sunday morning 11 am (the site still says the train is cancelled), I cancel my ticket and book a ticket on Rajdhani Express scheduled to depart at 20:00 the same day. Then at 2 in the afternoon, the site says that train no. 7604 is running. I was shocked to say the least – at least they should’ve written ‘LIKELY TO BE CANCELLED’ but writing ‘TRAIN CANCELLED’!? What are passengers like us supposed to do – sit down twiddling our thumbs and hope that all cancelled trains be resumed again. Spare me… At least they should inform the passengers with confirmed ticket about the happenings – that’s why they ask for our contact numbers in the reservation slips right, or is it all a formality with no further purpose!?
October 5, 2009
Aboard the Rajdhani Express, waiting for it to arrive it at Kazipet (it was scheduled to go via Vijaywada instead of Kurnool, but Kazipet was on the list). But then, when it is about to reach Warangal, we have an attendant coming around saying it’s not going to Kazipet and the passengers have to alight at Warangal itself. It’s another issue that Kazipet and Warangal are close-by. But if these two were, let us say, 100 km apart – what do they expect us to do? They say another train is waiting – but when someone says “a train is waiting”, it usually implies “you have to wait for the train”. And the reason for all this – the train is late and can’t go to Kazipet. Please don’t give me all that crap. They are making us suffer due to their inability to reach on time. And if they can’t have a fixed schedule for a Rajdhani which is among the premier trains in the whole country, I wonder what should be the plight of Passenger trains.
October 15, 2009
Train no. 2252 Wainganga Express from Korba to Yesvantpur, scheduled to arrive at Kazipet at 22:12 arrives at 23:45 – not a big deal by Indian standards – so I’ll let it pass.
October 16, 2009
Wainganga Express, scheduled to arrive at Yesvantpur at 13:30 – which arrived late by one and a half hours at Kazipet – was on course to reach Yesvantpur by 13:45. So one simple question – if the train which was late by 01:30 at one time can eventually cover up and be late only by 00:15, should we assume that the Indian Railways officials are underestimating the potentials of their own trains!? Why deliberately increase the journey time – are they afraid they won’t make it in time. Or is it complacency as they hold the monopoly in the area of rail transport – so people will travel in any case!
I said in the previous para that the train was “on course to reach Yesvantpur by 13:45”. But when does it reach - 14:45. All coz it’s halted right outside Yesvantpur railway station. And what do we find – a passenger train going while a superfast is halted. I thought the order of preference was
Rajdhani/Shatabdi > Superfast > Express/Mail > Passenger
Anyways, the train is allowed to resume it’s journey after three trains pass-by. But I had decided to take a walk before that and reached the station before the train. But one thing struck me – was it because the train was 15 minutes late that there was no place for it in the railway station!? I wonder if that would be a genuine cause. And the real cause – I’ll leave it to the imagination of anyone reading this….
Guess I’m fated to travel in trains till I graduate from NIT Warangal, but once it’s done – I hope to say sayonara to trains… But..........only time’ll tell…
