Labyrinth's Images Exceed PhotoBucket Monthly BandWidth Limit

A large number of blog surfers are bloggers themselves and most of them have used free templates, free domains and free web hosting at the start of their blogging careers. What more, even you could be one of them! Had it been so, then whose template did you use for your blog? Was it a default template or a template downloaded from another site and customized to meet your own taste?

Well, the template that I used right now is called "Minyx" and was developed by B-Themes. However, unfortunately, B-Themes had hosted all the photos on Photobucket free account which allows the bandwidth of 10GB per month. As and when this template kept on getting popular, the load on the Photobucket servers kept on increasing and one the limit got cracked. If you've been a regular visitor of my blog then I'm sure you must have noticed the screw up. I had images all over my blog saying "Bandwidth Limit Exceeded". It was a huge mess.

"All's well that ends well." I must appreciate B-Themes for their efforts since as soon as I contacted them of my misfortune, I got each and every image, used on my blog, emailed and uploaded to my personal Google Pages account. Now, it's true that even Google Pages have a bandwidth limit but they simply refuse to disclose the amount. Now all I can do is keep my fingers crossed that I don't shoot the roof there too, in near future.

Moreover, if you wish to know more about this particular problem, why don't you head over to eBlogTemplates' post titled "Are your Blogger images not showing up"?

Labyrinth Spammed!!

Huh? The very first time I think of posting something this year and this is how Blogger greets me, with a word verification setup that I need to type to be able to post on my own blog! This is preposterous! I have been maintaining this blog for almost 3 years now and finally, one fine day, Blogger dismisses me off as a spammer. After I clicked the little question mark (that's so characteristic of Blogger), the following is what I get to read.

Although I did fill out the form and asked the Blogger guys to review my blog, I got curious and checked out their page on spam protection. It says they consider blogs that keep referring to the same page everywhere (link spamming) as spam and that is it! That is the only category they've specified. I still just can't understand how could they classify Shayon's Labyrinth as a spam blog. Do you have any suggestions?

A Letter From "The Alter Ego"

Dear Reader,

How do you do? First & foremost, I'd like to thank you for visiting my blog.

So, before we move on, do I have the liberty to ask you what you do for a living? Are you a journalist? Or is it that you're a doctor? Or probably an architect slogging your ass off for a multi national firm. Uhh...kindly pardon me if I've already started to bore you. You know, today, I've decided I'll keep a clear mind and write a letter to you asking about your health, your life and your feelings about this beloved blogpage of mine. I've been blogging for over 3 years now and yet, all I happen to manage is a meagre 22 subscribers and around 40 visitors to my page. I am not too sure exactly what is it that makes me crazy about blogging but here I am, trying to post something or the other, at every opportunity I can conjure up. Of course, I can blame the non-popularity of my page to my irregularity which in turn is because of the lack of a personal computer and an active internet connection in my college, where I live most of the time.

Okay, I'm sorry. This letter is not exactly about my problems and complaints in life. It's more about a decision that I need to take, a decision that needs to be sorted out soon. And for this, I shall desperately need your help. It is you who has been visiting and reading this page for a while now and it is you who can tell me if I'm good enough to be able to take it up as a career option. I know, I can always join up some company and then carry out blogging simultaenously, just like so many of the rest out there. But here comes the problem. I just don't think I'm the kind of material who would be happy and content working for some one else. I need my own decision making and creative independence. It's not that I've never tried a 9-5 job. I'd been with M/s Crompton Greaves for 2 months and I realized that it's just not for me. Yes, I'm good in programming and I love it too. Yet, I still find it weird to be coding for someone else. As for blogging, it's not just trying to earn by running adsense on my page. I have a much grander plan. Unfortunately, I shall need to be a little discreet about it out here. But yeah, if you think you shall be able to advise me on this, kindly leave your email address in the comments section and I shall be more than happy to get back to you. And well, it just so happens that I've been doing a few things in my life that I hardly loved. This apathy ended up with dire consequences and here I am, trying to figure out what I want outta my life.

I know I can write decent enough, I know I have enough interest in this field and I also know that I have good enough entrepreunal skills. What more, I am even eager to learn new things. And yes, I shall need to regiment my life and be regular. What else does a man need to be successful in his life? Do I really need outstanding academic records to be able to feed myself and raise a family happily? Or is it that I'm day-dreaming?

I shall sincerely hope that you've realized the kind of indecisiveness I'm struggling with and am very grateful that you felt this letter's worth the time you've sacrificed to read it. Thanks again.

Yours Truly,
The Alter Ego.

Just For Mah Sweetheart!!

Ponderings...

He's Hurt, Mentally & Emotionally;
But everyday He walks outside with a smile on His face.
Because that's who He is,
The Guy who never stopped smiling!

And they said,
"If you endure the pain a little bit more ;
The pain will eventually, go away."

Last month Chronicled

So, finally the 'New' Year's arrived! I can even see Sakshi writing a post, ushering in the 'New' Year to this beloved blogpage of ours, as well. Well, kudos to you, gurl! Without you, this page would've remained stagnant for ages, thanks to my lazy ass!

Well, anyways, the point that I wanted to raise up was that what is so new about this 'new year'? True, folks do make 'resolution' but how many of them do you actually follow? I remember, after the college started, people continuously asking me about this year's resolutions. I got so pissed off at one time that I was forced to announce, "This year's resolution for me would be not to make any more 'new year resolutions' ever again!" ;-) I just can't figure out the very purpose of it all. Yes, I agree, for all you uninitiated out there, you'd at least go on a self evaluation trip once in a year. But then again, c'mon dude, what the heck? Since when have we started imposing things onto each other? Yes, for me, even this is imposition, never mind the intentions. I mean, if a dude wishes to live all his life in self-ignorance, who am I ask him to start re-evaluating his own affairs? And I thought I live in Democratic society!!

Okay, enough grumbling now! Actually, I shouldn't really have any grudges against 'new years'. This festive season, I've spent one of the worst as well as the best winter ever. Wondering how that happened? Well...it's just that I had to stay back in my college during the winters. Check out my 100th post for more on it. Anyways, after that 'bad patch', I happened to shake a leg at Tantra, one of the most happening discs (and I haven't been to many till date) in kolkata, with a few friends whom i met after more than 10 years! Then there was my cousin sister who opened a Pandora's box for me. After getting that wonderful & rare glimpse of the current teen life & trends, I realised it's gonna be a real tough time by the time I have kids of my own! Trust me, until now, I was too keen to have a few lovely kids of my own, someday....but after a few insightful plunges into the abyss, I guess I'd rather prefer to get an adult kid right away, if I ever do.

And after everything, there was this lovely trip to Digha, a sea beach in West Bengal, with my parents. Yes, just me & my parents! No extended family, no friends nor any siblings. Sounds boring? Well as for me, I certainly had a real good time. True, we did have one or two "discussion sessions", you know, the kind you'd expect between any dad & his 21 yr old son! Yet, it wasn't all that bad. And well, what I enjoyed the most was my way back to college, all alone. Actually, it was Monday the next day and I just had to attend the classes. So, ma n dad had left for Kolkata and I boarded another bus, on ym way back to Jamshedpur. I was absolutely clueless about the route, had 2.5K in my wallet, all in cash and tot op it all, I had been pining for a smoke all the way. After getting my supple ass all red in the bus for 4 consecutice fucking hours and 4 more on the train journey, standing all the way, by the time I entered my room, I was no better than an over used towel. Despite all the hardship, the thrill of treking the route back to home was what kept me ticking all the journey. I wish I could post the pics here, but the cam remains with Dad. Hope he mails them to me soon.

Now, an update on our college events. The socio-cultural festival, organised by NIT Jamshedpur, Utkarsh, is on its way. Students have already started to put their minds together for sponsorships. The dates fixed for the fest are 12th - 15th March, '07. Moreover, for the first time in the history of our college, we are planning for a tech fest that is yet to be named. The events for both the festivals are yet to be finalised. However, I thought I'd make a mention here about them so that, just in case you're interested in visiting or participating, you might let me know & I shall surely send out invitations on your way!

Well, that is it for today, i gotta rush for lunch now. Love you all.

Adios!!

And they say there's shortage of time...

What a waste! Here we are, back at college after a month long hiatus, and now that we do attend our classes religiously...all we get is useless blabber over Reflection by Electromagnetic "Babes" & their various intensities and frequencies!!

This is taking it's toll on our nerves now. It's almost gonna be May, in a few days. The 4th years need to join their companies by June & even their immediate juniors need to complete their summer trainings. Each & every semester's behind the academic calendar by a minimum of 25 working days. And as if all these aren't enough to bruise our asses, there's this 45°C+ heat in this god-forsaken town 0of Jamshedpur. None of us has a clue when we're supposed to appear for the papers and how long are we gonna get to study for them. To top it all, there're practicals, vivas & submissions too. Good Lord, Save us all!!

Snaps & Videos regarding our college liaison with the 'jhingalala' crowd from the surrounding slums are still pending. I'm sure you're gonna get amused to your wit's end when you check us out actually dodging the poisoned arrows cannonballed by the angry tribals. I know, you're itching for a detailed account of what exactly had happened out here. But, I plan to serve out the scoops only after the pictures are here.

Well anyways, the Electromagnetic "Babes" period's almost over and the prof's walking towards the dais, for attendance. Will surely try to write again, as soon as I can make it.

50% Reservations - No, that's not for the Trains!

Well...for the uninitiated, the MHRD plans to hike the reservation of seats for the "backward classes" (that is, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes & other backward classes) upto 50%. They feel these minority sections of the society are the most undeprivileged and they certainly need a boost by the government to move ahead in their lives!

Well...I have a query here. Why the hell do the folks belonging these so called backward sections need to improve their own lives if they continue to get such obscene level of helping hand from the Government? I mean, c'mon...give the rest of the crowd a break! They've been offered reservations from time immemorial and yet, if they need some more to climb the social ladder, do youreally think they're really worth this advantage?

Okay, exactly what class of people are we trying to help, out here? Is it the underprivileged or the lower economic class or the ones who've already established temselves in the society? Underprivileged - how do we really classify who's underprivleged and who isn't? Is it their social position or the economic condition or how important they are in alloting votes? I agree, owing to reservations, this so called "backward secton" has risen to a much greater level..but isn't that enough? I think it's high time we left casteism behind our back and moved ahead. Let's face it guys, it's hardly helping the society in general. C'mon...you know what sorta feeling I'm getting? That the government has divided the very country into 2 sections, one's the forward section & the other backward class. And each of these classes has been given 50% of space to live in their motherland. One must know which half you belong to and better take care not to intrude in the other. This is so bloody incredulous!

I know, this topic is subjected to a very heavy debate whether reservations should b present or not. But here what I'm trying to get into the light is the question whether an obscene 50% reservation's required for the upliftment of the backward sections of the society. I feel the real backward sections of our society are the ones who still have to strive insanely just to have their meals twice a day, they r the ones who can't afford even the most basic neccessities of living. And don't you think such a section doesn't belong to just the so called government stamped backward class but also among the rest? Don't you think it'd have been more feasible and practical if our esteemes government could arrange for financial aids for the needy, built more institutes and tried to market education in the rural sections much fiercer to help the oneswho really need it? Do they think my next door Mr. Marandi, who probably earns 3lacs ina year and drives a Toyota Corrola, needs reservatios for his son to get admitted into a reputed college? Does the government feel that my friend Akshay, who had 3 laptops in his family of four and whom I've never seen coming to school in any transport other than a car, actually deserved the reservations 'coz of which he got Electronics & Telecommunication in NIT Trichy, with an all India rank of 1.2lacs and I deserved to be doing Electrical Engineering in NIT, Jamshedpur with an all India rank of 3,600? Is this what our elected officials call justice for the society?

Brain drain had always been a serious problem for India. Previously, the best of the minds used to go out to work 'coz of higher salaries and better prospects. Such a scenario could be made a thing of past by emerging of MNCs in the country and the standard salary increasing manifold. However, now it seems brain drain's now gonna be much more rampant owing to shortage of seats in the premier institutes such a law is gonna result to. But then again, I guess the government doesn't really care much about that. All they need is votes for their fast drying up vote bank. Kudos to you, mr Arjun Singh. Bravo for taking such an awesome move!

Wow...What a Break!

Sitting in the class right now. The subject being lectured is Signals & Systems and the topic of the day is Block Diagrams. Although the prof seems to be quite enjoying the lecture, half the class seems to be yawning and the rest, already asleep! I, myself had been wondering for quite a while, to constructively utilise this time when suddenly this fact came to my mind that it's been almost 2 months since I last posted anything on Blogger. So, finally decided to actually write something here.

Well...you wondering where I've been screwing myself all this while? Frankly speaking, after the row over my posting the freshers video online (check out the previous post for more on this), I'd lost the very zeal to publish anything anymore. And well...the momentum continued! Moreover, once I stopped writing...I got so bloody lazy that used to cringe at the very thought of writing anything online anymore.

However, thanks to Sakshi, here I am finally publishing this post in here. It's been Sakshi who'de been coaxing me for 2 months now to post something or the other. I remember, once she asked me never to be lazy about stuffs I'm passionate about. That statement of hers had hit me pretty hard! I'd been trying to write since then but the opportunity never really came. Or rather, I failed to grab the occasional unobvious opportunities that came my way.

Quite a few things have happened in the past 2 months. Met a pretty serious bike accident, had a serious row with Sakshi, my mid-semesters got over, the asstt-HOD of my branch invited me to have dinner with his family, lost my lovely pair of floaters, have started playing FIFA after 3 whole years, bought a DVD writer, met my 2 cute li'l sisters on Holi, found & lost a friend within a month, paid up quite a bit of the money I owed to friends, my phone service provider SMART started the One India plan..etc..etc. Yeah, quite a lot many things have happened in my life in a pretty short time.

Oh yeah, I forgot something else. I got a job too! Now, just before u start congratulating, I must tell you that I didn't take it up. Actually, if I'd taken it up, I'd have to sacrifice my Bachelors' study as for now. And well, I wasn't really enthusiastic about that, right now.

Anyways, it feels good to be able to post again, after such a long time. Hope I don't get my bones all frozen very soon. Sayonara!

Astrology - What a waste!

Hmm...So, does this guy look anywhere like your family or the neighbourhood astrologer? At least I find them all pretty comic. I find it quite strange, how some people are so much concerned about what their so-called horoscopes say. It rather disgusts me to the utmost to find people actually planning their days according to some crackpot who'd prepared their janmpatri. What a waste!

Yes, it's true that I'm an Atheist. But does that have any bloody thing to do with believing and not believing in astrology & it's various tentacles? I just find it funny how some people give it all the importance of their lives. Okay, I'm not really thrashing the very art. It does have it's implications. I've had quite a few proofs of it's level of accuracy in my own life. But, correct me if I'm wrong, one is also capable of turning one's own fate by his deeds. I feel one should just go by one's own business, without thinking much about the future.

I know, I'm talking like a kid. But I'm just too tired right now to actually write properly. Probably I'll follow up later when I got some time in my hand. Just felt like writing up something right now after reading a post written by my girlfriend. I was too pissed to even comment to that.

Life these days!

Life's become quite hectic these days. Made a resolution of not to miss a single lecture this semester. I know, it sounds very unrealistic...but at least I'm gonna try my best to attend as many of them as I can possibly manage! So, waking up at 7:30 am, when the air around me almost tends to freeze at 5-7 degrees celsius, has almost become my daily habit. Well yeah, if ever thankfully I get my first lecture free, I get an hour extra to maul the mattress.

Then after 4 lengthy and almost suicidal lectures, come back to hostel by around 12.15pm, just gobble up my lunch & then again on my way to college. Probably get free by around 3-4pm every afternoon, but then again extra tutorial by a professor in my college. BVy the time I get to go back to my room, it's 6-7pm. After that, I do indulge myself in a bit of idea exchange with fellow mates & probably frag a few bad guys' butts. It's dinner time by 8.15pm & gets over by about 9pm. And well...assignments and a bit of self study too. So, by the time I actually get to consult my watch next, it's invariably past midnight!

Okay, I didn't really wish to bore you about my daily routine, but I did want to document my present condition 'coz this's the first time ever I've gotten this busy. And well, a few years down the line, I'm sure I'll be highly amused to reread this again. No one knows what the future holds for him/her. But that never bars a person from day dreaming, from urging for a better tomorrow. I'm sure it's gonna be both fun & nostalgic when, in future, I read what I now wish to do & to be, in my later years. How much different will the reality be from my ambitions, my dreams? Yes, I too daydream. And some of the things I desire are very impractical & sometimes unethical as well. But I do wish at least 5% of my daydreams to come true in this life-time of mine. Whether they will or not...it's all Destiny!

Had gone to the market yesterday. The basic occasion was 'coz Mehul, a good friend of mine, wanted company...and well, I too needed to return a book I'd mistakenly bought yesterday. Anyways, after all my errands were taken care of, I was just window shopping when I suddenly felt like visiting the Archies gallery & get a card for Saxi. It's certainly been really really long since I sent her one. The moment I entered the gallery, my eyes fell on a locket that really looked awesome. However, somehow I don't much like the idea of dangling anything around my neck. But that locket certainly fueled an urge in me to wear something that's so much in vogue these days. I normally detest any & every sort of ornamentation. But this time, I just wanted to give it a shot. While I was just browsing through the racks, I found a pack of those C.R.Y. wrist bands the college folks are wearing these days. Although I got a pair of those bands, a black & a yellow, I was searching a thick wrist band that's either wooden or that of leather. I didn't find any in that gallery, so just left it & went to another shop. That guy had a few leather ones studded with metal. But those ones seemed too vulgar to me, so settled with just a plain leather band.

Although I was a bit apprehensive at first, it isn't really looking all that bad. Most of my folks were shocked to see me wearing it, something they feel only the spoilt kids wear. Well, it seems they've finally gotten used to it, by now! And well, I think I must say a sorry to Saxi 'coz in the hulla-baloo, I'd completely forgotten to get the card for her, the original reason for me getting into that gallery. I'm sorry, hon!

So much so to trying to look cool. Frankly, I'd never ever gotten myself flown in the so-called tide of fashion. It's just this time I felt like giving it a shot. I know Dad's gonna shoot me if he gets to know about it. But then, isn't that one of the perks of staying in a hostel? Now what remains to be seen whether this's gonna be the last of my venture or the start of me getting wild?