Sunday, October 29, 2006

Song For All Professionals - The 8 Stages

  1. When in College - Hum honge kaamiyaab, Hum honge kaamiyaab ek din...
  2. When giving an interview to a Multinational company - Tu hi re... Tu hi re... Tere binaaa main kaise jiyunn...
  3. Waiting for Interview Result - Intehaa ho gai intzaarki... Aayinaaa kuch khabar mere yaarki...
  4. Just joined - Too cheez badi hai mast mast...
  5. After some time - Ye kahaan aagaye hum?
  6. After some more time - Naa koyi umang hai, Naa koyi tarang hai, Mere jindagi kya ek kati pathang hai (booohoooo)
  7. Floating the Resume - Kabootar ja ja ja... Kabootar ja ja ja... Pehele pyar ki peheli chitti...
  8. Finally when you don't get a better offer - Jeena yehaan, Marna yehaan iske si wa jaana kahaan...

PlayStation Emulators

Do not have a PlayStation but interested in playing PlayStation games? Try a PlayStation software emulator.

A software emulator allows computer programs to run on platforms other than the one for which they were originally written for. There are several emulators for PlayStation. A few of them are ePSXe, pSX, Bleem!.

  • Bleem! was one of the commercial PlayStation emulators. It could execute a few games but however could not run all the commercial games available
  • pSX is a little different from the modern emulators since it does not use plugins for graphics, sound and controller. However it requires a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) for it's execution
  • ePSXe is the best free PlayStation emulator available. It requires plugins for Graphics, Controller, Sound, CD-ROM. Further it requires a BIOS for it's execution. This emulator is worth the effort, it's plays almost every commercial game available in the market. Personally, I tried games like Tekken 3, Monkey Magic, Spider-Man 2 and they worked perfectly in this emulator

One of the hiccups of obtaining a working PlayStation emulator is finding a BIOS since the websites with these emulators do not provide it because of legal issues. So a little effort and search is to be put in for this.

Emulators for PlayStation and other consoles can be obtained in many sites. Emulator Zone is one of them. Download the requirements and configure your emulator properly to get things up and running.

Happy Gaming!!!

Vocabulary 02

  • Accretion - A gradual increase in the amount or size of something
    There was an accretion in the balloon when it was attached to the cylinder.
  • Acquisitive - Characterized by a strong desire to gain or retain information
    My friend was acquisitive about Greek mythology.
  • Acrid - Harsh or bitter taste or smell
    The cough syrup given to me had an acrid taste.
  • Acute - Sharp; quick and precise; intense
    A calculator is an acute device for calculations.
  • Adhere - To stick fast; to remain in support of
    The wood pieces started to adhere after applying glue.
  • Adjacent - In the nearest position; next to
    I was standing adjacent to my favorite actor in the audio release.
  • Adroit - Showing skill and experience
    The scientist is adroit in nuclear technology.
  • Aesthete - One with an excessive sensibility to beauty
    The painting was appreciated by a famous aesthete.
  • Aesthetic - Appeals to the senses because it is beautiful
    The Taj Mahal is very aesthetic.
  • Affinity - Natural attraction; inherent similarity
    Ants have a great affinity towards sugar.

Monday, October 23, 2006

Gaming Prerequisites

We all like to play games, but do we know how they are made? A game is basically created using a game engine. Game engines initially arose in 1990s in connection with the 3D games such as Unreal and Doom. A game engine was created for these games and on these game engines, other developers created their own games.

Eg. Half-Life and Counter-Strike have similarities since they were created by the same game engine. A game engine is a library of 3D graphics functions. It consists of multiple editors like -

  • A Level Editor is used to design the 2D/3D world for the game
  • A Model Editor is used to design the game characters
  • A Scripting Editor is used to write scripts(code) for the game
  • An AI Editor is used to create intelligent opponent characters

Professionals use several game engines like Blitz, Nabula, Crystal Space, Cipher, Torque, Jupiter, etc. Advanced game engines such Unreal Engine 3, Doom 3 Engine are used for creating First Person Shooters (FPS) and game engines like Gamebyro are used for Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG).

For game designers the knowledge of C/C++ and DirectX is very important. Further they should be able to

  • Program using game engine scripting languages
  • Create polygonal modeling work with 3D Studio Max/Maya
  • Create artwork using Adobe Photoshop/CorelDRAW

Remember every game we play, has a lot of effort put into it.

Vocabulary 01

  • Abate - To reduce or lessen
    The government has decided to abate the taxes on the people.
  • Aberration - A deviation or departure from the norm
    Because of the aberration the reading of the microscope could not be taken properly.
  • Abeyance - A temporary inactivity or suspension
    My computer was in a state of abeyance when I overloaded it with programs.
  • Abjure - To forswear or abstain from; to give up
    The company abjured the effort to get the contract after it realized that it was not worth it.
  • Abrade - To wear down or erode
    The iron piece started to abrade as soon as it came in contact with the liquid.
  • Abrogate - To end or do away with something
    Because of health problems my friend abrogated non vegetarian food.
  • Abridge - To shorten or reduce
    The teacher gave an abridged version of the story when she felt that the students would not be able to read it entirely in time.
  • Abscond - To withdraw and hide, typically to avoid arrest
    The criminal absconded after he killed an old man.
  • Absurd - Extremely ridiculous or completely lacking reason
    The student gave an absurd reason, when the teacher asked him a reason why he didn’t come the previous day.
  • Abysmal - Very profound or deep; very bad
    My performance in the internals was abysmal.

Vocabulary - Introduction

This is the new section of my blog. Every week I will add a few words with their meanings and an example for their usage. They can be utilized for many of the competitive exams. Hope you all find it useful.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

30 Good Definitions

  1. Cigarette - A pinch of tobacco rolled in paper with fire at one end and a fool at the other
  2. Love Affairs - Something like cricket where one day internationals are more popular than a five day tests
  3. Marriage - It's an agreement in which a man loses his bachelor degree and a woman gains her master
  4. Divorce - Future tense of marriage
  5. Lecture - An art of transferring information from the notes of the lecturer to the notes of the students without passing through the minds of either
  6. Conference - The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present
  7. Compromise - The art of dividing a cake in such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest piece
  8. Tears - The hydraulic force by which masculine will power is defeated by feminine water power
  9. Dictionary - A place where divorce comes before marriage
  10. Conference Room - A place where everybody talks, nobody listens and everybody disagrees later on
  11. Ecstasy - A feeling when you feel you are going to feel a feeling you have never felt before
  12. Classics - Books which people praise, but do not read
  13. Smile - A curve that can set a lot of things straight
  14. Office - A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life
  15. Yawn - The only time some married men ever get to open their mouth
  16. Etc. - A sign to make others believe that you know more than you actually do
  17. Committee - Individuals who can do nothing individually and sit to decide that nothing can be done together
  18. Experience - The name men give to their mistakes
  19. Atom Bomb - An invention to end all inventions
  20. Philosopher - A fool who torments himself during life, to be spoken of when dead
  21. Diplomat - A person who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip
  22. Opportunist - A person who starts taking bath if he accidentally falls into a river
  23. Optimist - A person who while falling from Eiffel Tower says in midway "See I am not injured yet"
  24. Pessimist - A person who says that O is the last letter in ZERO, instead of the first letter in word OPPORTUNITY
  25. Miser - A person who lives poor so that he can die rich
  26. Father - A banker provided by nature
  27. Criminal - A guy no different from the rest except that he got caught
  28. Boss - Someone who is early when you are late and late when you are early
  29. Politician - One who shakes your hand before elections and your Confidence after
  30. Doctor - A person who kills your ills by pills, and kills you with his bills

How The Lion Became The Boss Of The Jungle

It's a fine sunny day in the forest and a lion is sitting outside his cave lying lazily in the sun. Along comes a fox out on a walk.

Fox: "Do you know the time? Because my watch is broken"
Lion: "Oh, I can easily fix the watch for you"
Fox: "Hmm... But it's a very complicated mechanism and your big claws will only destroy it even more"
Lion: "Oh no, give it to me, and it will be fixed"
Fox: "That's ridiculous! Any fool knows that lazy lions with great claws cannot fix complicated watches"
Lion: "Sure they do, give it to me and it will be fixed"

The lion disappears into his cave, and after a while he comes back with the watch which is running perfectly. The fox is impressed, and the lion continues to lie lazily in the sun, looking very pleased with himself. Soon a wolf comes along and stops to watch the lazy lion in the sun.

Wolf: "Can I come and watch TV tonight with you because mine is broken"
Lion: "Oh, I can easily fix your TV for you"
Wolf: "You don't expect me to believe such rubbish, do you? There is no way that a lazy lion with big claws can fix a complicated TV"
Lion: "No problem. Do you want to try it?"

The lion goes into his cave, and after a while comes back with a perfectly fixed TV. The wolf goes away happily and amazed.

Scene: Inside the lion's cave. In one corner are half a dozen small and intelligent looking rabbits who are busily doing very complicated work with very detailed instruments. In the other corner lies a huge lion looking very pleased with himself.

Moral: If you want to know why a manager is famous; look at the work of his subordinates.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Backups

This topic is related to one of the most important things of computers - Backups. It's always advisable to take backups of your important data as a computer is always at the risk of losing data because of viruses, crashes, etc. Further while upgrading between Operating Systems, it's important to take backup of our critical data.

There are several devices for taking backups such CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, USB Drives, etc. A typical USB drive of 1GB comes at around Rs.1500 which is a good investment for storing data. However this is generally used for a temporary backup.

For a permanent backup, we can use CDs and DVDs. Also Rewritable CDs and DVDs are available but they cost more than the Non-Rewritable ones. For larger backups, we can even store the entire hard disk. This is generally used in offices where such backups are required.

Before I conclude I would like to know how many of you take Backups. Please send in your comments.