Brain Freeze

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Dr. ShrutzLove or How I Learnt to Stop Obsessing and Love the Notebook

First of all, a loud sorry to all those AMD fans whose hearts I will be breaking by talking about my choice in laptops.

Whoops! Did I break the suspense? No, that's right. I did not get a Turion. Okay, I am hearing the muffled oaths and loud sighs from that camp there.
Don't GO! Hmph. If you're that angry, go ahead. But don't come back complaining that you didn't hear the end of this story. There's only THIS much I can do, right?

Now, to the rest of you, I am assuming I am talking to Intel/PowerPC fans, or you're neutral about it, or as clueless as a friend of mine who asked, "Shrutz, what exactly is a notebook?" (No, I did not point her to a stationary shop, it took me a good part of half an hour to explain what little I knew.)
Around this time, last year, I'd changed my desktop from an HP Pavilion to an assembled li'l beauty. Ahem. Not too many concurred. I almost had hate mails from all the friends I did not call before I made the decision to buy an Intel-256MB RAM-80 GB etc computer.
I am kinda bemused, really and decided to make a huge ruckus the next time I had to buy a computer.

My chance came sooner rather than later.

In the post arrived my offer letter from IIM, Bangalore with a note appended. Briefly summarised, the note said, "Psst. Our hallowed campus has WiFi." (Yes! Mortals! Eat our dust. We stay connected in the MESS!)
"You need a wireless card/Centrino processor when you arrive on Campus. Choose your own WMD or our systems club will find you one." (Get a good notebook, we don't want idiots wearing our jackets to be carrying around some monstrosity of a PC .)

Hmm. Interesting choice to make. Suddenly, the air was buzzing with the expectancy of wannabe B-schoolers asking that inevitable question, "Will I be caught dead lugging THAT lunk of metal around?"
Sigma or self?
I settled down to ogle some serious booty, ahem, notebooks.

I can't BELIEVE the price of onions nowadays! Okay, maybe that's fodder for another post. Yeah, I can't BELIEVE the prices of laptops nowadays!

Without wasting any time, I'd started browsing the Dell, the Sony, the HP and the Compaq sites. Everyone on my Yahoo messenger was pinged with that inevitable question, "So, which one?".

Many, many MANY chat windows later, I was left with a list of prerogatives.
1) Configuration. (Like DUH!)
2) The lighter the better
3) BUDGET!
4) Looks. (Hey, I AM a girl!)
Which is when mom told me, "Ask your brother-in-law."

The Dells were looking seriously viable (especially for my moolah) and so I sent some configurations over to him with a mail that said, "I think the Dell is a good computer for me." Now, BIL was in the U.S at that time and the Dells are really cheap there.
Pat comes the reply, "Kiddo, you don't have international warranty here. I am not a fan of the Dell."
I sat and wept for 10 minutes for my poor innocent achachan who never wants me to use hacked software. (Uhm, is Big Brother watching?)

And, I went back to configuring laptops online. On an aside, it's a seriously entertaining pastime! I saw a very good-looking Sony Vaio that was canned by the users in C-NET.
The whole injustice of life prompted me to write an SMS to another B-school wannabe.
"I think I am in love. But, he's a good for nothing. All looks, no substance. Sigh. Why are the good lookers always like this?!"
Before I could get some soothing replies, I added, "He comes in Raspberry RED! Sigh, whatta laptop. What a waste."

A week later, achachan was ensonced safely at home in Singapore and sent me some more links to laptops.
The ostensible excuse for the torture was given by chechi, "We just want you to check everything out."
I blabbered incoherently, "I see the sugarplum fairy dance on my shoulder with a laptop in her hand. PLEASE don't make me do this anymore... Pretty please with a cherry on top!"
I was bawling....

Which is when I saw...... HIM.
The Apple Macbook. 13.1 inches of pristine white perfection, Intel Duo processor, the bells and whistles, boots in Windows (tm) . I nearly fell to my knees and wept for sheer joy.
Which is when they reminded me, "You really don't want to use pirated software anymore?"
I blathered, "But... so...pretty... so...good... config...I am in true love."
I am serious, people nearly had to pry my fingers loose of the mouse button. I was spending time staring at the Apple and rotating it 360 degrees, ogling at its neat little touchpad and it's grey keyboard.

True to his promise, achachan sent yet some more links and added in the mail, "Why not a Lenovo?"
Uhm, surely why not?? They are good. So, off I went to check the Lenovos and nearly had an aneurism on the spot. Never was a website closed with such haste.
Toshiba, Shruti?
Cool laptops, no moolah...

Achachan phoned me one day, "So, what do you think?"
I croaked out, "The Apple..."
"Yeah, but the Mac OS, Shruti."
I was staring at my Firefox open on the Apple website.
"Well, Shruti, you won't be able to use your software, like IE."
I was insulted, "I use FIREFOX!"
He decided it was better he changed the subject.
Achachan said again, "I think the Vaios are cool."
"I think the Vaios are expensive."
Long silence at the other end of the line.
"You must understand you will be using it only for two years."
I nodded my head fervently, unfortunately he couldn't see.
"So, what do YOU want from a system?"
"A good configuration, if only to keep the hounds of hell off my poor back."
He considered, "So, it must be robust."
"Uhuh. I won't drop it."
Achachan knows me very well and I am pretty sure he suspects that I might. My grace of motion is very well known in the family.
"You will get another laptop in 2 years."
"Yeah, but this is an important decision." Chechi interupted
I mumbled, "Yeah, like marriage."
Chechi burst out into laughter, while achachan coolly interjected, "Unlike marriage, this one isn't forever."
Touche!

I got a mail the next day, "I think the Dell is a good computer for you."


Two days, 20 mails, a million laptops and a gazillion configurations later, I was the proud owner of a Dell Inspiron 640M with about the same specifications I had decided on three weeks ago.

Later that day, Sigma puts up their configurations...
The vendor? Dell.
Some things are always meant to be.

Viva Dell & B-schools. Cheers!

PS: To all the hounds of hell (you know who you are), the Blogger has decided on a T2400 (1.83 GHz) Intel Centrino Duo processor with 1 GB RAM, a 80 GB 5400 rpm hard disk, a dual layer 8x DVD R/W, 14.1' Tru-Life screen on a Dell Inspiron 640M with a wireless mouse. You shall kindly keep off her back, since, as you can see, the configuration is FAH-bulous.

Sigma, our Systems Club, is getting Dell Latitude D520s and D620s.

In case I forgot to mention it, yeah, I am off to IIM, Bangalore on the 24th of June, laptop in hand. Maybe, I ought to warn the poor souls there.....



Copy-write Shrutz :: 9:17 AM :: 10 Sneaky Remarks:

What would you like to do?

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Monday, May 15, 2006

My Funny Blog Post

Lounging around at home for the past 3 weeks already and I got this stern injunction on my Y! messenger from a collegemate, "Write a FUNNY blog. You've have been becoming longer and drearier everyday and I don't read it anymore."
WHAT? My readers are deserting me? This can't be allowed to happen!! Something must be done. Yeah, now all I need to do is write a funny post. That's simple enough; I've made a blog out of it for almost 2 years, nah?
So, here I am. Sitting in front of my computer, wondering what the hell I have to be funny about today.



Okay. Humour seems to have deserted me for the moment.
But watch this space... FOR THE FUNNY BLOG POST!!!


Copy-write Shrutz :: 9:01 PM :: 10 Sneaky Remarks:

What would you like to do?

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Tuesday, May 02, 2006

CGPU Chronicles.

CGPU, the Career Guidance & Placement Unit of the College of Engineering, Trivandrum. The place made of gossamer dreams and concrete walls, the mystical land of opportunity, where students enter quivering and come out into the adult world.

We were the proud flag-bearers for the CGPU, the batch of 2002-06.
The torch has been passed, and what's left are the bitter-sweet memories of the last year, locked up in the treasure trove of the past.

In some ways, I want to inform my juniors what is in store for them, both as representatives and students. Because, well, the responsibility of the CGPU is on every student alike.

The first rule of the CGPU: You DON'T talk about the CGPU... Okay, just kidding! Yeah, it was a lot of work. A lot of late nights, and later work, Excel spreadsheets (which I take great pride in updating) and the rolling numbers, loads of bugging students and staff alike, but as the time went by, the joy in the work grew.
The actual first rule ought to be: You're not working for your class, you're working for the college. 3 days into the process, the divisions of Electronics, Mechanical, Electrical etc disappear. What's left behind is this thought, "How the hell are we going to place the rest of the students in my college?"
The sooner the thought crosses your mind, the more pride you take in your college and your small part in it, and the more seriously you will take your responsibilities.
The second rule is, of course, you will enjoy yourself. Trust me, you'll miss the days that there are no companies on campus and the days that you can't meet the others.
One of the questions a senior asked me (bless her!) when I told her I was the placement rep whilst preparing for CAT was, "Shruti, are you sure you can handle it?". Actually, I am not even sure how the year would have panned out without this huge bright spot of joy in my life.
I am going to remark about how I saw one of my friends cry for joy when he got placed. He was calling up his parents, his grandparents, his neighbours, his... well, you get the drift. Of course, I was there to lend him moral support in the form of pulling his specs off, laughing at him and then blackmailing him. :D
Well, what can I say? I am heartless... But, children, you don't be! The euphoria of seeing 100-odd people get their jobs is something that can never be replicated.
No, working for the CGPU is not a piece of cake. You'll learn about what makes people tick, you'll be under a lot of mental and emotional stress for some days, but you will come through all of it. You will be the stronger for all of it.
But... (and this is most significant)... BUT, you'll need to be true to yourself and your work.
Please take on responsibility only if you think you will carry it on whole-heartedly. And, this is a lesson for life.

Okay, enough of the dreary talk.
I had a blast, guys....
Thanks for all the fun.
Love
Shruti

This post is dedicated to those awesome friends I made, Samson sir, KK, Vinod sir & yeah, Lallu, Balu, Ashok, Tina & Tina for being our mentors.
The CGPU rocks!
All the best to our juniors with their placements and their lives!

Copy-write Shrutz :: 8:36 AM :: 7 Sneaky Remarks:

What would you like to do?

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