Back when coding was fun

There was a time when doing a project meant fun, rather than “completion-within-a-deadline”; there was a time when mere curiosity taught me a lot more than the will to learn, and “work” was`nt quite referred to by that term.

I don`t know why but i associate almost every song i hear with a person i know, an event in my life; sometimes even food and aroma.

One look at my first project while listening to one of my favorite songs during high school, brought back loads of old fond memories. C++ was the first language i had ever learnt. And my high school project was a simple, yet elegant Library Management System(along with ol` pal Aju). I had learnt a lot during the course of doing that project and it had taken us around 3 months to complete it. I remember checking the internet back then for ideas i could implement; but remember not liking any i had come across(maybe its `cause my googling skills were`nt half as good back then, dunno). However, the resource i had used to the fullest was the Turbo C++ Documentation. By the end of high school i had gone through all the documentation in Turbo C++ about graphics programming. Minimize resource requirements, Maximize Output. That seemed to work all the time.

Now, i never really was interested in graphics or the GUI aspect of programming(i still am not); i`d done the GUI part in the Library Management system just for the kick of it. And now, its been ages since i`ve coded that way.

College was a place where i was overwhelmed by the technologies and the limitless possibilities around me; and i started utilizing them – one by one. During my first year, i played and experimented with a lot of technologies around me; there were people who could clear half my doubts, books and magazines to double them up again. It must have been the most productive part of my life where i actually enjoyed getting to know stuff so much. From here, later on, spawns my ambition to work in the area of Information Security.

As time passed on, i got my hands on a handful of projects, doing them was fun at the beginning but then my attitude towards programming started changing slowly. I regret saying this, but from then on projects started becoming mere endeavors to learn something somehow AND put it on my resume. I resent saying that, but that is the truth.

All of this sudden realization, thanks to a song and one of my most prized pieces of high school code.

Now, i`ve decided to work on a web application(GUI again), just for the hell of it. I know i`ll learn loads, but thats not the point anymore.

`coz this time its for the fun in it.

whoa… dint see this coming!!

today`s one of those hot `n humid evening`s when you can think of  nothing to while away your time; its one of those days when the idea of watching a flick gets you headaches, and even your favorite song sounds like a blaring horn.

i generally get tired of things a bit too quickly; however, i finally decide play CounterStrike over the internet. however, the game keeps on crashing for some reason when i try to connect to online servers. i finally give up and switch back to ubuntu(i feel internet browsing`s faster on ubuntu) and read up stuff on the internet for similar-crash-cases.

the only crash cases i`d encountered before this were the packet-errors we used to have(and still occasionally have) while playing CS over a WLAN at our hostel. could a slower(on comparison with ubuntu) internet connection be the reason i`m having these errors? would these errors still persist if i could  game in ubuntu?

games in ubuntu bought into my mind the recent discussion i had with Abhishek….

if  i could only play CS on ubuntu.. `n then it hit me. could`nt believe it took me so long!!! i ran the game using the wine on ubuntu and whoallah!! it finds online servers, connects seamlessly and there is`nt even a hint of a lag while gaming!!

gotta go!!! lemme go and give `em a few headshots(and get a lot in return, i bet!)….

star signs and fortune. telling..? EERIE!!!

i`ve never been much of a religious or a superstitious person; but the one thing which always gets me stumped, is my horoscope. most of the articles i`ve read about my star sign(libra) turned out to be true. i like to go around saying that i don`t believe in horoscopes, but the fact is, i find their accuracy quite… um … “eerie”.
surprisingly, a close friend of mine(who also happens to be a lot like me), has had similar experiences also feels the same way.

so, believe in horoscopes?