That's right, I've moved to number four on the NFS:MW list. Considering that I haven't touched my gaming PC for close to two months, it's pretty good! I spent a couple of hours last night and bumped myself up a couple of ranks.
I used to first play AOE2, and never thought I'd ever like any other genre. AOE2 let to Command and Conquer:Generals, and AOM. Then somehow I got hooked onto UT2004 (that's one heck of a game!) and the NFS series. I still don't think much of the earlier NFS games, they were very frustrating and bad-looking. NFSU, on the other hand was a revelation. That brought me to NFSU2 and NFS:MW.
I use a Sidewinder Freestyle Pro for racing games, and sometimes the Logitech Momo wheel (which I never got the hang of). The Sidewinder makes my thumbs hurt, which brings back pleasant memories of the Nintendo controllers long long ago...
(For those who came in late: AOE = Age of Empires, NFS = Need For Speed, NFSU = NFS Underground, MW = Most Wanted, UT = Unreal Tournament, and if you didn't know any of these you're probabaly reading the wrong blog! (just kidding))
Jul 31, 2006
Jul 30, 2006
Emailing a CV?
Welcome to rediff.com
This little article caught my eye while I was browsing through rediff. Nope, I'm not thinking of switching jobs. I was merely intrigued by what advice the writer would throw out regarding this topic.
Personally, I have never ever written an email sending my resume to a total stranger, unasked for. It has always been through consultants who call ME up first, or directly to friends in the target companies.
Somehow I found the few comments that the article attracted, ummm... amusing. Formality has mostly been given up in the IT industry, and since I have never had to interact in this manner with someone outside the industry I have no idea whether "received your contact info" or "owe your contact details" make any difference. Personally, I would probably end up writing "I got your email id from...". The other interesting thing was the "follow up call". I would be really pissed off if every sundry email sender started calling me to verify that the email was received!
Having reached this ripe old age (!) my experiences in CV writing and reading tell me:
1. Keep it simple, stupid.
2. CV = 1 page
3. Write numbers.
4. Write a list of skills.
6. Plain text.
7. Interpret what you have written from the hiring managers point of view.
This little article caught my eye while I was browsing through rediff. Nope, I'm not thinking of switching jobs. I was merely intrigued by what advice the writer would throw out regarding this topic.
Personally, I have never ever written an email sending my resume to a total stranger, unasked for. It has always been through consultants who call ME up first, or directly to friends in the target companies.
Somehow I found the few comments that the article attracted, ummm... amusing. Formality has mostly been given up in the IT industry, and since I have never had to interact in this manner with someone outside the industry I have no idea whether "received your contact info" or "owe your contact details" make any difference. Personally, I would probably end up writing "I got your email id from...". The other interesting thing was the "follow up call". I would be really pissed off if every sundry email sender started calling me to verify that the email was received!
Having reached this ripe old age (!) my experiences in CV writing and reading tell me:
1. Keep it simple, stupid.
2. CV = 1 page
3. Write numbers.
4. Write a list of skills.
6. Plain text.
7. Interpret what you have written from the hiring managers point of view.
Jul 27, 2006
Taxes?
You'll soon have to pay Rs 7,500 a year as professional tax - The Economic Times
More taxes. I've lost count of the things that I do for which I have to pay the government a cut. I like to think that I wouldn't mind so much if I saw that money being put to good use. But if what I read in the newspapers is any indication, much of my tax money is certainly not being used to help the country.
Most interesting statement in the article that I've linked to: "States want the additional revenues for meeting expenditure for creation of social infrastructure, including primary schools and hospitals." Who would be able to protest against such noble aims? Would anyone want to deprive the poor people of schools and hospitals?
Maybe it's time we started taking more interest in the expenditure statements of the government. I don't even know if the govt. issues a statement of income and expenditure.
Another thing I wanted to comment on was the recent overly-dramatized rescue of the child who fell down a shaft. While I sympathize with the family and applaud the rescuers, I see no reason why the govt. should announce an award of 2 lakhs for the kid. I presume there must be hundreds, if not thousands, of people who get into trouble of some sort every day. I don't see the govt. coming forward and giving what amounts to a windfall to all of them. I could understand and appreciate the govt. rewarding the rescue workers, after all they did a great job, but somehow I don't think the kid did anything out of the ordinary by falling into a shaft or by getting rescued. His family probably needs help for the treatment and other associated expenses, but I feel that's something for voluntary donations from individuals or organizations - somehow the govt. helping out in one particular case (merely because the media chose to give it wide coverage) doesn't seem correct. Which brings us neatly to the other point - why did the media give SO much coverage to this particular case? Live, minute-by-minute updates? Isn't that a bit overkill? What was so special about this case? Was it the fact that people all over the country were praying for the child in question? But isn't it true that people all over the country came to know about this child BECAUSE of the live, minute-by-minute coverage? Will someone now purchase the movie and novel rights to this incident and make the child richer? Makes me wonder whether the media would give the same attention if Chaos fell down a lift shaft and couldn't be rescued for a day or two...
More taxes. I've lost count of the things that I do for which I have to pay the government a cut. I like to think that I wouldn't mind so much if I saw that money being put to good use. But if what I read in the newspapers is any indication, much of my tax money is certainly not being used to help the country.
Most interesting statement in the article that I've linked to: "States want the additional revenues for meeting expenditure for creation of social infrastructure, including primary schools and hospitals." Who would be able to protest against such noble aims? Would anyone want to deprive the poor people of schools and hospitals?
Maybe it's time we started taking more interest in the expenditure statements of the government. I don't even know if the govt. issues a statement of income and expenditure.
Another thing I wanted to comment on was the recent overly-dramatized rescue of the child who fell down a shaft. While I sympathize with the family and applaud the rescuers, I see no reason why the govt. should announce an award of 2 lakhs for the kid. I presume there must be hundreds, if not thousands, of people who get into trouble of some sort every day. I don't see the govt. coming forward and giving what amounts to a windfall to all of them. I could understand and appreciate the govt. rewarding the rescue workers, after all they did a great job, but somehow I don't think the kid did anything out of the ordinary by falling into a shaft or by getting rescued. His family probably needs help for the treatment and other associated expenses, but I feel that's something for voluntary donations from individuals or organizations - somehow the govt. helping out in one particular case (merely because the media chose to give it wide coverage) doesn't seem correct. Which brings us neatly to the other point - why did the media give SO much coverage to this particular case? Live, minute-by-minute updates? Isn't that a bit overkill? What was so special about this case? Was it the fact that people all over the country were praying for the child in question? But isn't it true that people all over the country came to know about this child BECAUSE of the live, minute-by-minute coverage? Will someone now purchase the movie and novel rights to this incident and make the child richer? Makes me wonder whether the media would give the same attention if Chaos fell down a lift shaft and couldn't be rescued for a day or two...
Jul 22, 2006
Kensington SX2000 speakers for the iPod!
Bought the SX2000 yesterday, but managed to get the unit back home today evening. Awesome speakers! The unit has a 3.5mm plug so I should be able to use it for my gaming needs too (but I forgot to get the audio cable, and my 5.1 headphones are good enough for gaming).
http://us.kensington.com/html/7206.html
http://www.livedigitally.com/?p=803
http://us.kensington.com/html/7206.html
http://www.livedigitally.com/?p=803
Jul 17, 2006
Are ISPs blocking blogs?
Are ISPs blocking blogs?
Ridiculous. ISPs seem to be blocking entire domains because some government agency gave them a 22 page long list of sites to block. Strangely enough, that list is "confidential".
Ridiculous. ISPs seem to be blocking entire domains because some government agency gave them a 22 page long list of sites to block. Strangely enough, that list is "confidential".
Jul 1, 2006
Safe and sound
As the old cliche' goes. But tired. Slept the whole afternoon. Of course getting a vegetarian meal out here is difficult, made do with some sandwiches and an omelette.
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