Many years ago, I met a gal on the train. Due to our amicable nature, both of us were soon involved in casual conversation like studies, where we stayed and the current trends, so on and so forth... After hours of conversation, she opened a pack containing 8 cards (not the gambling cards ;)) which were filled with random numbers on one side in the square boxes on each card; which I had never seen before. These were called Mosaic cards where one person asks the other to choose a number ranging from 1-99 without revealing the number. Later on, each of the six card is shown if the chosen number is present or not. Based on the numbers present in no of cards, the exact number is computed. And this seemed to be fascinating and made me curious to learn how it was done.

I reached my destination before her. It was time for me to bid a good bye to my new found friend. As a memory, she gave me these cards along with a note signed, which I still preserve. :)




© Manasa. All rights reserved.

After I published this post, I emailed both my friend and his mother, who is also a good friend of mine. Though, my friend was unaware of the fact that I had emailed it to his mother and she also liked it. ;) Most of the people who read this not only loved it but also acknowledged that its the same case with them, too.

Here goes the conversation with my friends mother who also liked it. :)

me: hello aunty

She: Hi Manasa
I was just reading your blog

me: :)
any guesses whom I was chatting to? ;)

She: Probably my son

me: hehhe
yeah :)

She: I can guess his lopsided answers
though I havent read the whole of it

me: you know, he asked me to find a gal for him

She: Are u doing so?

me: am trying my best, aunty

She: Hope all your endeavour fructifies

me: even you must be finding a gal for him

She: :)

me: what did he say ?

She: Yea frantically

me: :)
so what kinda gal does he want ?

She: He is still waiting to meet the right person personally before giving his consent

me: mm
and when will that day come ?

She: Why dont u ask him?

me: aunty, did you read the whole post ?

She: not yet

me: i have been asking him... every time he says--you search for me
aakhir tu meri kab kaam aayegi

She: :)
and why should the search not be mutual, for each other?

me: mmm

She: Now I wish to read the whole post before I go for other works

me: sure aunty

She: ok then All the best

me: all the best for what ?

She: for the anticipated effort to be put in by both of you regarding the search.

me: heheheh

She: I shall read the whole of it and let u know later.

me: aunty, read it now
please

She: ok
Shall get back to you

She: Oh Manasa You have simply reproduced all the basic chats between us-- mother & son

me: is it ?

She: Probably the with mother & son; daughter as well

me: but its the common thing which all parents advice their kids

She: Yes right
and when you grow up I'm sure your sentiments will not be very different
unless you are ultra modern & believe in giving full freedom to children without parents inter fering in matters of matrimony

me: :)
how did you like this post ?

She: wonderful!
when we speak we never realise we sound so nagging/dominating/irritating.
:)

me: mmm
but when I imagine myself in my parents position

She: but caring no doubt

me: I do sometimes feel that after they're gone
there would be no one bothering to ask us if we ate at proper time
no one to bother

She: True . It is our love and bondage that makes relationships so meaningful andcompulsive

me: yeah..
now we are young
parents will care
after a decade
even to have a cup of coffee alone
its too boring

I mean you hardly find anyone who wants to share your emotions and sentiments

She: It is the vaccum created by parents that can be filled up by the spouse

me: exactly
and thats what parents try to convince us
which we find "IRRITATING"

She: and later your idea may change and you might not find it irritating any more

me: heheh
now a days
I no longer find the marriage topic irritating

She: :)

me: aunty, can I publish our chat on my blog ?

She: You sure can.

me: am glad you liked that post :)

She: :)

© Manasa. All rights reserved.

After exploring all the features like music, movie, games, contacts except podcasts, on my iPod Classic which I own with pride for the past 1.6 years and despite weird experience at Apple Showroom; I have begun to use my iPod extensively day-to-day after discovering a new feature of reading ebooks on the tiny screen. :) This post was lying as a draft past an year, until I realised that I should publish it; having seen the Amazon Kindle 2. iPod is none the less.

If you belong to this category of reader who finds hard to carry bulky 1000 page novel or who tends to lose books after lending them; then iPod Notes serves you the best.

Notes folder allows the user to save any text file of the size 4kb only. If you store any text file (.txt extension) more than 4kb, then the remaining text is lost. Hence, you ought to divide the ebook into several files of 4kb and save them in a subdirectory under the Notes folder.

If the file size of the ebook: Freakonomics is 311kb, then it is divided in such a way that each file does not exceed 4kb. The website: ebookhood does the process of dividing each ebook into 4kb with suitable ordered numbering.

1. Upload an ebook to ebookhood.
2. Download .zip file to your HDD.
3. Extract all the .zip files to Notes folder in your iPod.

© Manasa. All rights reserved.

"The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself."
~Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

Advices are given for free at all time by everyone (even without you demanding!!!) especially if you attain a marriageable age! People who had forgotten your existence are suddenly reminded of you once you are of "right age". Most All parents express their concern and try to convince sons/daughters esp if you're of "right age". ;)

A conversion with a friend 'bout how parents crib when children attain marriageable age. I want to publish apart of our conversation here. My friends identity has been maintained anonymous. Few translations are given in [ ]

..............;
me: sure
but you'll have to walk down here :)

He: theek hai.. but once I come to B'lore, you owe me a big treat
deal?

me: deal :)
meri shaadi ke liye aa jaao [ You walk down for my wedding]
u get pucca south indian khana to eat :)

He: yeah that is a time I wish to be there
but let me know when the dates are planned
I'll try to drop by

me: hehe
sure
pehle ladke ko dhoond na hai [ First, the groom has be searched ]
:)

He: err... you might try looking for a girl as well ;)

me: girl? :-?
:-/
i should be searching a gal for u :P

He: yeah you're welcome to do that

me: thats what u asked me to do :P
arre, par apni list to do! [ First, give me your list ]
ladki mein kya qualities honi chahiye [ What qualities do you expect in a gal? ]

He: I think I already gave you, remember?
that post called zaroorat hai

me: accha [ ok ]
phir se pad loongi :) [ I shall read again ]
but what did aunty say?

He: heheh... the usual

me: arre, wohi to bataao :) [ Tell that ]

He: tell me... what do you think she might have told me

me: arre, this is the right age beta
shaadi kar le [ Get married ]
ghar mein biwi aayegi to, tumhe acche khana khilayegi [ If your marry, your wife will prepare good food for you ]
aur, tum bhi kitne dino tak akhele pret atma ki thara har jagah ghoomoge [ How long will you roam alone like this? ]
many guys of ur age are almost married and having kids too
tu kab shadi karage? [ When will you marry? ]
hamare kandonka bhoj bhi halka ho jayega [ Our burden will also reduce ]
she must've told you all these, right? ;)

He: ossum... looks like all women think alike
besides, there was a very important question you missed
what kind of a girl do you want

me: ummm
i know
u must've given all ur specs
later they try to convince u
u will not get the gal with 100% qualities u expect... etc...
life mein adjust karni padti hai [ You gotcha adjust in life ]
arre bhai, my mom n dad also tell me the same
not only my mom n dad, guess when children attain marriable age, they behave the same -- cribbing
when gals don't get married by 24 or 25, they feel we're getting aged

He: :)

me: guess, aunty might have told the same--right age for wedding ;)

He: yep

"Never advise anyone to go to war or to marry."
~Spanish Proverb.


© Manasa. All rights reserved.

Drafted: June 9th.

I got an opportunity to try the to be launched during Nokia N97 Bloggers Meetup. Axel Myer, Head of Design at Nokia, shared his experiences in designing and embedding many new features unlike the other N series.


Key features compared to other N series:

• N97 supports both touch screen and QWERTY keyboard in which there is enough spacing between the keys providing a faster typing speed.
• Phone which extensively supports GPRS and GPS.
• Built in memory 32gb (This sounds great!!).
• Also supports TV out.
• 5mp camera with Carl Zeiss optics.
• Wider screen for better video viewing.

Few pics from my camera:






Wondering if anyone would opt for Netbook after N97 is lauched. Watch interactive demo of the phone: here



***Currently priced at 35,000 INR.

© Manasa. All rights reserved.

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