Creating ebooks

You know that my ebook reader had almost been damaged permanently. My friend Tanmoy fixed it and made the software as good as new. My target for rooting the device was to use ad-hoc WiFi connections(from my laptop). Along with that I also had a plan of installing a calendar app. Now it functions as a normal Sony Reader PRS T1 does. I still had the desire for a calendar...so that I would be able to set reminders and stuff like that, or atleast memos. That's why I started to search the net for various ways on how to make ebooks. My idea was this: to create an ebook that have the calendar of 2013 in tabulated form, just like a normal calendar is. Each page would be a separate month.
        The only softwares that I found for free or which had a small size were small editors and did not support tables or stuff like that. They just allowed the creation of ebooks in writing. Then I came across Adobe InDesign. Another software from the world renowned company that makes heavy duty professional applications like Photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc., this one let's us create professional ebooks! And yes, that includes the calendar making thing too.
        So, for two hours continuously, I went on making (actually trying) calendars, and finally got one optimized for my Reader. Now, at last I have fulfilled my dream of having a calendar 'app' for my Reader...:D After that, I made another ebook for my friend Anish, who is actually one of the best young writers of our time. Now, I have asked several other friends to give me their writings so that I can make ebooks out of them and send it back to them with professional formatting styles like good headers, contents, hyper links, and foot notes...:D :) Well, that's it for now. And, oh yes! I'll be going to Shantiniketan again during the festival of colours - Holi, that is on the 26th. I'll describe Holi in that post later...bye for now!

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My current happenings

Right! Let's move into the topic directly. First of all I must tell you that LOTS AND LOTS have happened to me since I had last blogged on 'Common yet my own 2012'.

        I had my excursion in January. Earlier it had a synonym: 'education tour'.
Now, it was actually a fun tour with my friends. We all went to an amusement park, Rose Valley Amusement Park in Barasat. The bus journey was HORRIBLE! The roof was really low and dancing in such a cramped space was almost impossible. However, we managed to somehow start up a song in the bus' defective audio system and had a fun time. When we reached the spot, we were taken to a spot for having breakfast. That was truly delicious. Inside the amusement park we got free tickets for awesome rides! Actually, we were about to ride most of them for the first time, because most of us hadn't rode on such thrilling rides before...at least that was the case for me. There was a rotating wheel with sitting arrangements for two each. That was truly thrilling. I went on with a friend of mine and before it started to move in full speed, we were petrified! We didn't know what it would be like, whether we become nausea-tic or would feel scared. It would all be solved within minutes...that's all we knew. But when the thing started, and we got accustomed to it, we started to enjoy it in full swing! Apart from that, the other ride we had was on frogs...we would sit on a frog and it would jump and move at the same time! I almost got knocked out of my sit! There were 4 other rides but they weren't as thrilling as those. Inside a scary house, we were the ones who were actually scaring the others...:D Overall, the rides were good, and so was the delicious lunch! But, while we were returning it was not fun at all...:'( There was no audio system, no one to dance, and everyone was sleepy. This was certainly not the best tour for us. The one in 9th standard had been much more enjoyable.

        After that, January was somewhat exciting because I learnt to play Fifa 13...the game. I now support a football club (at last)...in fact I support two clubs. FC Barcelona and Manchester City. That apart, I also modified the blog a bit (as you can see). Apart from these two new improvements, the latest thing I learnt about desktops is that they can be heavily modified using a software called 'Rainmeter', which is going viral in our school nowadays. My current desktop is quite awesome. I have started using Google Drive, a free cloud storage service giving the user 5GB of storage! There I have uploaded some screenshots of my desktop.

        Right...now for the main NEWS that I want to share with you. It's about my ebook reader. You know that my Sony Reader PRS T1 runs on the Android OS 2.2 'Gingerbread'. Well, you must also be knowing, if you are an android user or programmer or have interest in computers, that Android devices can be hacked, or in the best term - rooted. It's kind of unlocking the full capacities of the device. My ebook reader has no Android capabilities. Only certain apps like the browser or the notes app, or the audio app can be used. Others have been stripped down by Sony. Well, they can be run but only on by rooting and unlocking a third home screen that allows me to run the Android goodies from Google. I did do that in the month of February. I rooted my device.
Now I knew what consequences I would have to face if the rooting would not work. My device had a chance of becoming a brick...yes, it would no other function other than a brick. That's called a bricked android device. But I read the stats and found that the cases of bricking are extremely rare. Thus I took the chance. And oh yes! My warranty would become void. I didn't mind that because anyway, the warranty would not work outside the USA. Thus, I downloaded a rooting package by rupor and rooted it. My main target was actually to enable ad-hoc WiFi connection capabilities. Oh! And I also learnt how to make my laptop a WiFi hotspot using the broadband connection that I already have. Anyway, that was my main interest. All was going well. I added quite a number of apps from Google to my device. But, I wanted the WiFi. For that, I would have to write a small amount of code in an ADB and use it for the Sony Reader. That bricked my device. For weeks, I had no option but to continue searching the internet on how to fix it. Well actually what had happened was that the Reader would not connect to the computer, and it could not detect it's own internal memory! The case was hopeless. However I had a friend in my school who was a real expert in the field of Android rooting and flashing devices to fix them. He fixed it within one half of a day!!!! And that too really easily! Now I can again read my books for free and have learnt that before knowing adequately on something as advanced as Android, and getting ample amount of experience, I should never experiment with anything...:P Anyway, now my annual exams are going on, and I have two more theory test left and three practicals. 

That's it for now! Bye!

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Common yet my own 2012

The year that left us...a common topic.
        This was the most common topic in Facebook. Everyone posted their own collection of memories in Facebook through status updates, pictures, notes, etc. That's why blogging is kind of useful to me. One thing I know for certain. My list might go too long, and no one will care to read through the entire post. That's why blogging is much better. I can freely list myself here. Anyway, let's move on...
        January: I won't go on listing like this, but still, it's a good option for starting. The year started with our class 10 selection tests. Only one term can describe our school's selection tests for both class 10 and 12: horrible. No description needed for that.
        Then, the rest of January and February was spent in preparing for our first board examinations: the ICSEs. It was truly a tough time. People say that scoring is easy in ICSE, but those two months require some amount of hard work. Anyway, after that, in the end of February, the exams started. In January many of use had given mock tests in different centres, although I hardly know how much that helped us...:D
        The month of April was a unique one. Right after my boards ended on the 26th of March, I escaped to our house in Shantiketan with my parents. A five day trip, it is still the longest stay that we have had. On returning, I started heavy practice for playing with the presentation that I had made for my father's 50th birthday anniversary. That was my first stage experience. And, it was quite satisfactory.
        April was quite eventful. Our ICSE results would come out on the 19th. That day was the most tense and yet enjoyable day. At first it was filled with tension. When the results came out at 3pm, tension was replaced with joy!
        Then started the class 11 rush. Although it had already started I didn't pay much attention at first. Then, as the humongous syllabus slowly unwrapped itself, I came to know that I had start studying. However, the half yearly examinations were really poor for most of me and my friends. The effect quickly wore off (temporarily) as the pujas arrived, and so did our trip to Kedarnath. Photography was quite satisfactory, although I believed it wasn't really good enough. When we had went to Mandarmoni or Shantiniketan, I had been more satisfied. Anyway, after that in the month of December came the best experience - website designing!
        Christmas wasn't really special, and neither was New year. However, dryly said, this was my list of memorable events that took place during the year 2012. Oh! And I forgot to mention doomsday...:D The biggest hoax of the year. And also the Delhi rape case...something that shook us from our very insides and showed us what we 'civilized' people could create. A memory that will haunt most Indians forever...
        So sum up like an essay, this was my list of 2012 events. It wasn't a really enjoyable read, but this was supposed to be a 'list'. The detailed versions are included in other blogs...:) Enjoy reading those! :D :)

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Website making: Part 3

The shock! Our school also had another team. They had brought a website a few days back which they had designed not by programming but by using MS FrontPage. Thus, it had lacked the modern features like CSS, and looked a bit like Avirup's 'Government Website'. But, that day, they were desperate for flash technology. On the day of the competition, on the 7th, they brought something that literally brought our eyes out. He had a 3D VIDEO GALLERY!!! And a 3D PHOTO GALLERY as well!!! We lost hope. The only thing that we had was huge information, simplicity, and a user-friendly navigation system.
        During the competition, the judge asked us various questions which Avirup answered smartly. I told him the technologies which we had used: HTML5, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, Java Applets. At the end of our session, he looked at our masthead. I had made a section called 'About the website', where I had included all the information sources. This was our savior. This is where the other team got beaten. Yeah, our info, and design were also an advantage...the navigation bar which linked to each and every page was another savior. But, the judge did say that they had violated copyrights of YouTube. In the end, we did win. I had become quite doubtful then, because of their fantastic layout. But, I was satisfied with my work, and had made myself ready to accept the loss as well (but, yes...had we lost, I would have been deeply grieved. The hard work would have all gone to vain).
        I have learnt a lot about the internet, and of course about website designing and HTML, CSS, JavaScript coding from this project. That's what I am happy for apart from the competition...

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Website making: Part 2

The home page was done. But, the whole thing was still left. It was a Saturday. I wanted to make a simple, user-friendly, and sophisticated-looking design for most of the other pages. I write in a blog...:P You know that, of course, but that didn't strike my mind then. I just surfed the web for more and more webpage designs. Then, came a blog called 'The Flower Blog'. Actually, it was a tutorial for creating a blog like design. I opened it, and although the page was huge, I knew that this was the thing that would be the standard design for all my other pages. All I needed to do was implement this design and a huge part of my work would be done. Thus I decided to come back home from my maths tuition and start working on the design. I would learn new things as well...

        At 8:00 PM, it was on!

        I opened the bookmarked tutorial page and started studying. This was the first time I came across the concept of CSS: Cascading Styling Sheets. This was the thing that would actually help my website look 'sophisticated'. I created the page, the basic HTML version as the tutorial instructed. Then, I opened another file and wrote down the required CSS. The file was 'master.css'. By 11:00 PM, the thing was done! A huge job done! The basic layout without any content looked like this:

Yeah, well there was one director, but it did not have any pictures, and it was an un-edited version. I had just copied and pasted it from Wikipedia. Well, I don't have pictures of the first looks. This one is a bit different. The menu on top is actually a navigation bar that remains fixed whether you scroll down or not. I introduced this 'hanging-menu' in school. That was another major achievement. But, anyway that was it! I went to sleep that night with a sense of peace. Little did I know that still a HUGE JOB was left. 

        The next day I had a lot of problem in including another article to that page. But, ultimately I did it. Then, within the next 3 days, I finished the video and photo collection pages as well. The photo collection page was a good one. It was one where I used JavaScript to include two arrows that would move the gallery on either sides as soon as the mouse was moved over it. The gallery was actually a collection of thumbnails. Above it was the preview panel. The photo collection looked like this:

Well, above it was the headers and the usual menu. But, this was the main content. This saved a lot of space.

        Then came the video gallery. Now, that was a problem. I came to know about a concept called 'inline frames'. That would help to open multiple things in the same portion of the page, not at the same time of course. However, I could get nothing in mind as to how to implement it to open the videos. There would be the usual layout, and on top would be the thumbnails. On clicking, the corresponding video would open. However, I could not achieve it that night (the night I was working on). A kind of worrying sense crept into my head. While I slept, the HTML tags were floating in my head. Now, it's a case of belief for you. The next day at morning I had the whole thing cleared out in my head. It was a simple logic again and within an hour I implemented the idea. Thus, the video gallery was ready!

        With that, the basic layout of the whole website ended. The only thing left was the quiz app. I decided to make it in school using Java Applet and later embed it into my website. I thought that now the major job was done. Because Avirup would be bringing in the information and providing it to me. This was my biggest blunder. I wasted time in my school creating the quiz app slowly and chatting with my friends(because the Rhapsody mood was on...no studies at all!). Avirup had a lot of jobs to do. He was in a one act play, he had prefect duties, and he had other jobs as well. He became so busy, that ultimately although he downloaded the info, he did not create the final matter that I would include into the website. 

        The last two days were the busiest days of my life. I worked from morning till night and woke till 4 AM for the two days.

        But, in the end, at 3:50 AM, on the 7th of December, the website was complete! I simply smiled at the huge work that had been done. I created the masthead of the website. Finally, I did not have the mood to re-check the whole thing. The finishing corrections were not made that day, rather that night. I went to sleep with a huge sense of satisfaction, relief and happiness inside me. Smiling mildly, I dozed off to sleep. The next morning, after all my daily morning routine habits, I went to school with a new blazer, the pen drive and disc, and my synthesizer on my back (I would also be playing the background score for some of my friends who were doing the one act play).

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Website Making: Part 1

Hello Yoko! This is gonna be really exciting to describe. 3 weeks ago, our computer tutorial ma'am had asked two boys to get ready for making a website. Unfortunately, she didn't ask me. I didn't know much about HTML coding and other stuff then, but I still had the interest of doing it. And, that naturally saddened me a bit. I tried to forget it as much as possible, but it stayed on my mind. Finally, one day when I was entering the computer laboratory in my school, the same ma'am (who also teaches in our school), and our two other teachers were discussing something. I had incidentally entered first on that day. Suddenly, ma'am looked up and said something to the other two teachers. I became a bit hopeful, although not expecting much. Quite surprisingly, as everyone came to the lab, she asked us to sit quietly as she would be making an announcement. We all followed. Then came the news. She said that on that day, she would be making choices and even asking us to start working on a new website for the inter-school competition that would be occurring during our school fest(that was just 10 days away). The first person she pointed was me!!! I held on to my excitement firmly, as she asked me if I would like to participate. Calmly, that is as calmly as possible, I said "Yes ma'am", and nodded my head. Next she chose the first boy of our class. We were made a team...:) Then, as the class started, she gave us a page which contained all the instructions for the competition and the guidelines and of course, the topic: Bengali films. The thing is that I don't really remember the original topic, but the idea was to make a Bengali films timeline showing the transition of Bengali films from the old times, to the modern times, laying stress on the three legendary directors: Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak. Anyway, ma'am asked me if I knew a bit of HTML coding to start with. The truth was that at that time I knew very little: only how to include text in a webpage...:P Still, I said yes.
        As the class ended and we went back to our classroom, I started discussing with Avirup(my team-mate) the plan. He added newer ideas, and then we finally decided what the different pages would be: a timeline, the three contemporary legends, directors, actors and actresses, a video collection, a photo collection, a review page, and an interactive quiz. We sort of decide how the home page was at that time, but later I changed it. Anyway, I told him that I would create the home page on that day and the next day I would be bringing it in school. Thus, the project started...the project that was quite a sort of dream to me. And, believe me, I never thought that I would ultimately be able to finish it. I visualized the pages in my head, but like my previous school project: a shopping application in Java(my first application), I only assumed that the thing would somehow be done...I had no idea HOW it would be done...

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        That evening after I went home, I connected my laptop to the internet, and started searching for a complete HTML tutorial for beginners. I never found a good one, but ultimately I found a site that provided a good tutorial. I knew of one from before called w3schools.com, but it was a bit vague. The other site was good enough. I searched for a good HTML editing software, but found none. So I started coding in notepad. I finished creating the first layout of my homepage after an hour! There was so much to learn. Although it was pleasing, it didn't yet have the real content. I changed fonts, backgrounds, but, still the main links and contents were missing, and my conception was still hollow. I continued this 'researching' till 2 AM, but still hadn't made much progress with my homepage. Too tired to continue any more, I fell asleep.
        Next day, in the morning, I again coded a bit. I had a holiday on that day. I did a bit of my school studies, but not much. I studied HTML on my laptop mostly that day. At night, I was beginning to worry. I still hadn't made the links. The trouble was that I didn't know how to include soft buttons, like the ones modern webpages have. 

        Then, luck struck me! I was looking at various websites, when suddenly I saw one which had those soft buttons, and quite suddenly like a brainwave, the idea of how to make the buttons struck me too! I was simultaneously chatting with Avirup on Facebook...on discovering how to do it, i started typing gibberish in my chat box. Avirup said, "pagol holi naki?" As if screaming, I wrote in caps: BUJHTE PERECHI!!! ETO SIMPLE JINISH TA MATHAAY ASHCHILO NA!!!

        Using Photoshop, I created buttons, and using Picasa, I included the text that was supposed to be on the buttons. The logic for highlighting the buttons whenever the user would move his/her mouse over it was simple: on detecting the mouse, the image for the button would simply change, in other words, a new image would replace the old one with a new colour, and on moving the mouse away, the old image would be restored! Thus, my 'soft buttons' were ready for use! I made 8 buttons in Photoshop that night, and by 3 AM, the home page was ready: a nice textured black background, a heading on the top of the page, then the 8 buttons, a small description, a picture of the three legendary directors, and finally a footer: a copyrighted name (The Bengali Films Timeline), the year, and links to the about us and contact us pages. After saving it, I went to sleep...the next day, Avirup was really delighted, and he constantly said, "Government website hoyni ekdom!" Our government department websites have a poor layout. That's what he didn't want to happen to our website. I knew that he was pleased too...:) Thus, the first challenge ended. Although my concepts about websites were not 100% clear, I got the idea of how to design a basic, yet complete webpage.

My Home Page

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While sitting on a rock...

        Our Kedarnath trip started on the 20th of October, at 4:50 pm. As was planned, we boarded the plane at 5:00 pm, arrived at Delhi at 8:30 pm, and had a wonderful dinner which had been prepared by my mother...:) The next day we went off to Haridwar via train, stayed there for one whole day (which was mostly boring, because we just went to see old temples and all religious stuff). I found it very boring and uninteresting because of the fact that we had actually come to tour mountains and go to a place - Kedarnath - at 11,500 ft. - so as to reach the ultimate destination of God, and not to worship some mere idols of God!
        Anyway, the next day we started off for the next destination - Chandrapuri! The car that we had hired was an Innova. The car itself is good, but the previous day we had got a Tavera, an equally good car, but the condition was extremely poor! That day, however, we got a really nice car. It was almost new! Only six of us would be travelling in such a huge car, so it was quite comfortable. The moment we entered into the real mountains(and not hills and temples...:P), I started to have the feeling that I usually have when I am on a tour!!! I felt fresh, and then I realized that the tour had started(for me). We traveled for 6 hours, during which we had a nice time admiring the wonderful view of the great green Himalayan ranges!
        After that, we reached Chandrapuri! I was half asleep when we reached the place. I don't remember what dream I had had then, because I always have one when I fall asleep, even if it is for a small nap. But, trust me on this fact - it could never be more heavenly than what I could see in front of my open eyes. Our GMVN rest house was located on the bank of the river Mandakini, whose serene blue water was flowing by the rest house and making a wonderful sound on the rocks that had been rounded by it! It was a real treat for the eyes. I ran down (the GMVN rest houses have a typical style - the restaurant is located at road level, but in order to go to the cottages, one has to go a few steps down, in this case down towards the river), and entered our cottage. There were a few chairs outside the cottage, but then I saw my uncle pointing out a small gate. Aluminium wires were surrounding the whole compound on all sides. Our cottage was river-facing, and the wires were the only thing between us and the river.
        On discovering the small gate, I ran towards it, and to my delight, found out that it was just an entrance into the actual river! There were numerous rocks...

 ...and I knew by the sight of them that they were extremely slippery. Still, I slowly moved forward, placing my feet steadily on each rock, and proceeded towards the river. And, I was right in the middle of the river Mandakini!!! I steadily sat on a comparatively flat rock...

This was the view just in front of me!

The river wasn't actually deep, but the force was tremendous, and although I didn't try, I knew that it would be hard to stand.

        While sitting on the rock, I had with me my camera, and my phone. Due to some reason, I found it difficult to let even one of the scenes go out of my camera. The crystal clear water created a wonderful sound by clashing on the rocks...

 ...most people believe this is superficial stuff, and don't really exist, but I felt that the sound was like pure music. It didn't have a tone, but the overall effect made it so pleasant to the ear that I didn't even take out my phone to listen to Yanni. I sat there in a half inclined posture for quite some time, and then as the sun was slowly going down, I took out my phone. I had enjoyed the pure view and the sound of the waters; now I wanted to try listening to Yanni. 'Until the Last Moment' and 'Seasons', along with 'Truth Of Touch', made the experience even more pleasant!

       After a really long time (not hours though), I opened the camera lens cover and shot a small video of a tiny 'waterfalls' - a thin stream of water that was crawling through a small gap in a rock. For an ant, it surely had the effect of a waterfall...

        I took a few more shots that day and the next day as well...

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My first experience on an airbus!

Hoho!!! Let's start off with this.
        We were lucky enough to have a flight that was also a connector flight for those going abroad. So, we got an airbus. Well, when I heard of the flight number, and came to know that it was an airbus, I wasn't actually overjoyed. All I knew was that our airlines - Air India - would surely give us refreshments. My uncle said that I would enjoy the experience. But, still I did not expect much. We waited for an hour at the airport.
Then the boarding started at 4:40 PM.
        The bus that took us to the aeroplane was extremely unimpressive. It didn't even have an A.C.! Anyway, I was still not a bit unhappy because I knew that our flight would give us refreshments.
        Then we entered the huge aeroplane...for the first time I saw a plane with a 2 - 3 - 2 seating arrangement, and along with that EACH SEAT HAD A SCREEN ON ITS BACK! I was really overwhelmed. Then, I sat and followed the usual procedure...I tightened my seat belt and took a chewing gum inside my mouth(it prevents the popping of our ears). After the plane took off, I started checking out what Air India offered us - headphones(yes the ones with a soft padding!), a touch interactive screen, with apps, movies, music, games, etc.; and, lots of food (they served it later on)!!!
        I did various things on our flight, including reading my ebook...:D Even an air host asked me whether I was reading a book...I said, "No...it's an electronic book."
        Well, that was it! Till now, I mean this moment, this has been my most enjoyable flight experience! Air India is (till now) the best airlines that I have personally seen!

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Need to blog out a lot!

I know I am blogging after a long time. But that's because there wasn't anything that I had to say about. Well, I did have to say about the results of my half yearly exam...:P Those were horrible. But, that apart, I didn't have much. But now I do...
        Let's start off with computer....:) I abandoned the notepad project, because I knew, that no matter how much user friendly and stylish I would make my notepad, it could never be popular. I just had the idea of how to make a word editor. Next, I also left the password storage facility on a pause, because the filing system was creating huge problems. I wanted to use generalized methods that other methods would be able to use for accessing files without having to use up much of the RAM memory. That was the hitch. I failed to create an efficient, low memory file system. Anyway, next I suddenly had the idea of making my game using applet. I went to shop for the Pujas, when this thought struck me inside a trial room! It was however after one whole week that I was able to write the code, and I did write it on this Monday, that too within one single day!!! I gave the final touches in my school(yes, I smuggle these codings of mine in Java to my school). I made a hangman game. It has a two player as well as a one player mode. The fun thing is that I was able to create this game with little bugs from the beginning only! Anyway, that was a lot about my computing history...now about Durga Puja!
        Durga Puja is the most festive seasons for use Bengalis, and the most enjoyable period of the year. For five days, we go out to friends' relatives' houses, see different idols of the goddess Durga, eat fast food, and enjoy to the fullest! This was the first year that I went out to see the idols in Kolkata with my three friends...
Well the part that needs to be highlighted is the small walking adventure we had. It was truly an adventure! In fact, we had actually lost our way when we were coming back. You see, the roads of Kolkata have so many sub divisions, that it's too easy to get lost. But, we don't usually. However, one of the idols were located in such a remote location, that we could reach it by asking the local people, however we had problem in returning back...:P Well, thanks to my new RealFlex Reebok shoes (which I got for my birthday, for trekking), my feet never got too tired!
        And now for the biggest and most exciting NEWS. Today, we are going off to the mountains after two whole years!!! YIPPEE!!!!!!
        Okay, got to go now. I can't hold back the excitement. I won't be able to blog my different experiences, from the mountains only. But, I'll try to say as much as I remember after I come back home...:) Bye!

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Lot's to say!

Ah! I am again blogging after a really long time! I have been quite about 3 weeks or so. Well, that's because my half-yearly examinations were going on, and I didn't want to blog then, as blogging usually fills my head with loads and loads of new ideas to write about. Anyway, that's the past. The exams were okay. Chemistry was horrible. Others went okay, not really good, or good...:P

Now about my present situation. First of all, I have progressed a bit with my new password storage app in Java. Here's a screenshot:

It's not much yet. Only the design is more or less ready.

I have also recorded the 50th anniversary music collection on the synthesizer. It just needs to be converted to a digital format, so that I can include it in my presentation. I will go to my father's friend's studio and it will easily be done there. I tried doing a lot of times at home. I didn't get the right software, and the professional software that I found is about 3.6 GB. So there's no question of getting that...:( 

My brother in America got a new iMac. But, honestly I feel sorry for him. He took quite a number of games to play at home, but ended up getting a Mac. Now, most of our games are created solely for Windows, or a separate version is created for the Mac OS, which I don't have. Now he can't get the advantage of having 2 GB of graphics card! I wish he got an Alienware from Dell. Now, that would be useful to him...;(

I have finished playing Call of Duty Black Ops. And, now I found out from a special website that checks the compatibility of a computer for playing a certain game, that my laptop is does not support any of the games that I have played till now!!! Black Ops requires 256 MB of dedicated graphics...I have only 64 MB (1696 MB total)! But, the game ran fine on my laptop! It's really quite strange. 

I was also reading Steve Jobs' biography lately. That's one of the best books I have read! It basically shows the reader how the whole GUI concept came up! How bit-mapping system helped to create special fonts, and circles, and rounded rectangles, and many more!!! And, how the PC came up! It's really thrilling to read the evolution of computers. 

That's all for now. In my next blog, I have planned to tell you about my experience in Mandarmoni...a really special experience(after staying so close to the sea). Bye!

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Memories of nature-from Shantiniketan

OK! This is the first time I am posting my photos to my blog. I hope you enjoy them! They can be considered a gift from Shantiniketan...

Took this while cycling around inside our boundary walls

Same as the above. This has a Harry Potter like effect...:)

I had missed the silver lining of the clouds(as always). This was the after-effect

This is not our house. It is another model inside our compound-the deluxe model

Our house is like the house on the left side.

I took this from our car, while we were going to a place called 'Amar Kutir'

Same as above

It was raining. The trees provided me enough protection in order to take this pic...:)

Ah! The river-'Kopai'

Long grass by the banks of Kopai

...as white as milk? or, as white as the clouds?

River life!

These ripples have a wonderful cooling effect on me.

Water droplets that made the simple flowers sparkle!

Simple foliage

Natural crystals!

Check out the picture below

Getting ready to bloom!

The sky is on fire!!! :D

Heavenly rays of the sun (from the car, while we were returning home)

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Call of Duty - Black Ops

No sequence in gaming. The last Call of Duty that I had played was COD 2. And now, I jumped to Black Ops! Call Of Duty 7! I went to a friend's house last day, and I had taken my 8 GB pen drive with me. He had the game. The game is about 7.63 GB or something like that. But it took nearly half an hour to copy it on to my pen drive! Anyway, after copying it, I went back home at about 12:00 PM. As soon as I reached home, I took out my notebook and installed it. Unfortunately, even after going through a lot of complications, the game did not run! It was SO SO IRRITATING. I almost deleted the installation file as well! Anyway, today, in the afternoon I again attempted to install it. But at the end, the same problem showed up-that DirectX could not be installed. I located the path and manually installed it. After that the good folks of Pirate Bay helped me. The team which had uploaded the game on Pirate Bay- SKIDROW - as they call themselves - had uploaded the instructions for loading the game. Simply by following their steps, the crack process was completed! Then, keeping my mind blank(that's what I do instead of keeping my fingers crossed...:P ), I double clicked on the exe file...and it was amazing! The GAME STARTED!!!!
        Let's just skip to the end, because if I start praising the game, this blog will become toooo long. First thing to note - the graphics! IT WAS SERIOUSLY AN OMG MOMENT! The graphics was too good! Secondly, the story line which was better than the lower versions of COD, which simply dealts with World War. This is set in the Cold War era, and it really is great! Well that's it for today! Bye!

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A small but new idea!

I haven't coded for a long time, say for a month by now. I mean I haven't worked on anything big. I had to do small home-works for my school and my tutorial classes, but now my father just gave me a new idea, in an indirect way. He has a large number of accounts in various websites, organizations, etc. So, this would probably be great if I made an enhanced version of the password storage facility that I had made earlier. The earlier one had a poor filing system(the sequential system), and was not very user friendly. I just got a new idea from an ebook that I had got from Oracle.com, and decided that I would mix their idea and mine's in order to create and encrypted password storage facility. So, that's it! I'm onto a project again. The only problem is that(and I don't know why this always happens), whenever my exams are about 1 or 2 weeks away, I usually get these ideas for programming. When I am free, I rack my brains to get a new idea, but never manage to get one. Now my half yearly exams are just 1 week away, and I can't help myself from creating this app in Java. Anyway, what to do? I won't be able to keep my mind on my studies unless I do this. That's it for now! Bye!

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Music - The Soul Companion

This post is mainly to describe what music I like. My parents developed a good taste of music since I was a child. I liked Rabindranath Tagore's music, some Bengali bands' music, and some English movies' songs, including some serials. When I was studying in 8th grade, one of my best friends first introduced me to Western pop music, and also rock music. He gave me a pen drive full of such songs. Initially I liked most of them. In fact, they were outweighing my previous taste of music. I loved the rock songs of Linkin Park, then the soft rock music of the Eagles, songs of a band called Evanescence, and so on. And, in order to reveal the truth, I was a bit proud to hear and like such songs. This culture of music stayed on with me for 2 years. However, I had not completely stopped listening to Indian music, I still iked Rabindranath Tagore's songs, and some other songs, but my taste had changed and I knew that. For some time, I began listening to songs of contemporary Bengalis, who actually experimented with various types of musical compositions. Their album was called 'Back To The Future'.
        Then, I had a drastic change. I started listening to Western classical music all of a sudden. My favourites were compositions of Beethoven. I had also started to play the synthesizer from class 8 (mid term). So, all these types of music greatly appealed to me.
        But, slowly I realized that I did not actually listen to these songs for the purpose of listening to music.  just liked listening to them. They were pleasant to the ear. That's why I liked them.
        Then something happened. My father is surrounded by a large number of people who are very much linked with musical lines of profession. Even he is a wonderful singer. So, anyway, one of my father's friends came to our house one day, mainly to do some official works, but he also brought with him a DVD-video of Yanni-Live at the Acropolis. I had heard of Yanni's name from my grandfather because my aunt used to listen to Yanni too...in fact she still listens a lot. After my father's friend went back home, I played the DVD on our portable DVD player. Quite surprisingly, I skipped on to the 3rd song of the album-Until The Last Moment. And that was the most enchanting moment I had ever had! The song was purely captivating, and, believe me or not, I felt heavenly. After that, I listened to all the songs. But that song had had a special effect. It was truly magical.
        That was the second, and biggest turning point in my taste of music. I came to know which genre' of music would appeal to me most, and would give me the actual joy of listening to music. Everyone around me used to say that Rabindranath Tagore's songs can uplift a man, and can give consolation at any time. I used to like his songs(and I still do), but Yanni's music was certainly special, because I didn't have to make any effort to have that special feeling which people have to do while listening to Tagore's songs-they have to decipher the special meanings of the lyrics of his songs. Yes, this is a big proof of my laziness, but Yanni's music is certainly much more appealing to me. His songs are termed as Contemporary Instrumental by some, or New Age, by some people. Whatever be the name of the genre', I had finally found a sink for all types of emotions. His songs can help me when I am too happy, or sad, or I am suffering from something....practically everything!
        Although I have never actually been to any of his live performances, because most of them take place outside India(he played one concert in India, in 1993, and that album was called Tribute), but till I really look forward to that day when I will be able to listen to him playing live.
        A good word to describe his songs would be 'magical'. He really does have a magical way of composing songs that are best suited to a place. For example, when he played the concert in front of the Taj Mahal, in India, he created such an enchanting environment in the whole place(where he was playing), that I even got absorbed into his music by the seeing the DVD video.
        Hmmmpphh...that's it for now...I really wrote a lot. But I do want to add one thing at the end. For those who think that I am exaggerating, are really wrong. I did not say that these feelings(which I have mentioned above) will be same for all. I have simply shared my experience when I first heard to Yanni's music, and what I feel, when I listen to his songs. Also, one more thing I would like to say, is that I have been listening to his songs for the last one year by now. I play many of his songs over and over, but never get bored. I recommend that you try and listen to some of his songs, and then think as to whether I am saying the truth or not.
        Well, that's it for today. My half yearly exams are going to start next week only, and as I have probably mentioned before, a huge part of my syllabus is still left. That's it! Bye!

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Not Much To Say

The title explains everything. Well, almost everything...:) I am a bit afraid about my studies nowadays with the load increasing with each day, and my backlog also increasing. I am actually afraid about chemistry and physics. Mathematics is going on at some progress at least. Anyway, now about my new notebook...:D My McAfee antivirus was slowly expiring. The demo version that was pre-installed, was actually a limited version of 1 month. I had started worrying about which antivirus I would get. Most of them are really costly. So, I asked some of my friends at school. They said that a genuine copy of Windows 7 has the advantage of getting a free antivirus from Microsoft called Microsoft Security Essentials. I downloaded it today, and it is working really fine. I ran a full scan of my notebook, and it detected 1 worm in my drive. So, I am satisfied with this antivirus. I have started my piano practice once again(though it is very little, maybe at night time). And, lastly, my half-yearly exams are one week away...:( :( Really really frightening, especially with half of my physics syllabus still left to study. The problem is that at school our teachers finished the chapters in one hour or so, although one of our school's most strict teachers is teaching really good. She is going steadily. Anyway, that's it for today, that is for now...because tomorrow my school is closed! :D Tomorrow, I'll probably blog again. Oh! And one more thing. I have been learning some encryption algorithms lately, although I cannot understand any of them. Data Encryption Standard 128-bit encryption is good. And that's as far as I will go. Advanced Encryption System is tooooooooooooooo tough. Hehehe...that's all!
 Bye!

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New Mouse

This is great! Today, my father got me a new mouse, and that too a wireless from Microsoft.  I was skeptical at first, especially because the price was quite high. But, when the person is the store showed me the range of the mouse, I was really impressed, and so was my father. It needs a battery...that's all! Today, another thing happened. I was worried all day at school, and especially after my friends said that my tutorial class' teacher was going to take a surprise test. I was really worried, because I hadn't prepared at all(yesterday only, I had my class). Anyway, I found out that throughout the week, I didn't really have any option to go there. And, on any day, I would be unprepared, because this week I have my physics test. And, of course, we are going to Shantiniketan...;) But, anyway, I went there, and to my greatest surprise, sir did not take a test at all. He just asked me to take down some notes from an organic chemistry book...but that was really lengthy, because it was an IIT level chemistry book....:D And lastly, but not the least(at all), I played Call of Duty 2 on my notebook today...and is it good? It's great, just too good. This will be disagreed by people who have played the higher versions, but to me, a boy who has just played COD 1, it's really great!!! The graphics is quite good, and the sounds are great too! This is because I played the game with my headphones. The 3-D surround effect is really awesome. That's it for now...bye!

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New Notebook

My new notebook has arrived! Now I am blogging from the notebook itself! We went to the airport to bring my aunt and my brother today. We didn't even have to wait for long...perhaps 10 minuted or so. I spent that time reading the Kite Runner. Anyway, just when the flight had arrived we went up to the conveyor belt, and we found them waiting to collect their bags! We waived our hands frantically just to make them see us. That is the moment that I enjoy the most whenever they arrive here. After they came home, Kundan(my brother) went to my room and quickly popped out the new Dell Notebook Inspiron! I was really amazed at the sight! I read the configuration of the notebook, and that was amazing too! Here's the configuration:

500 GB hard disk

4 GB RAM

Intel integrated graphics(1696 MB)

Windows 7 Genuine Home Version (64 bit)

Intel Core i3

When I booted the notebook for the first time, it asked me to enter some basic details. However, after I started it up, the machine was a bit slow. Even copying files took some time. But now, it is filled with pure awesomeness! I can actually use widgets, and other desktop tools too! I can use Microsoft products, and the Inspiron even has the Microsoft Word 2010 Starter Kit loaded in it!!! I had feared earlier that I would face some problem in typing. But now as I am typing out my excitement, I am finding no difficulty at all! On the contrary, it is really comfortable, as I can rest my hand on the wide space and then type. My Java is working fine, But I have to install some more things before I can actually be friendly with this computer, like the KMPlayer. 

Oh! I almost forgot! My aunt also brought with her the original cover for my Sony Reader PRS T1!!! It's great too! The cover also has an integrated lighting system, and Sony claims that the light will last upto 19 hours. But, the cover does not have anything to strap it down. But, I am extremely happy, that the Reader is now absolutely secure, and tight inside the case, with no jerking at all. The only problem is that I can't keep my stylus inside it. But, still, it's great! My next excitement is that we will be going to Santiniketan again!!! For two days. Till then, I still have to spend a whole week at school...:D And, the boring fact is that, I have to prepare for my computer exam tomorrow. And, I also have to study Chemistry for my tutorial class tomorrow. Well, I guess I have to accept that. Now, I just hope that I get respectable marks in my computer examination tomorrow.

:( Well that's it for now. But to tell you people the truth my face is actually like this: :)

hehe... good bye until the next post!!!

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My first stage experience!

It was the 8th of April. As I woke up, only one thing was in my mind...my musical tribute.
                        I had created a presentation for my father(lasting for 15 minutes). It showed the different stages of my father's life...I named it 'From Innocence to Experience', or it would be better to say-my mother named it. It contained various pictures of my father's life from his very birth to his age of 50 years. I and my mother had secretly made it in my room in 1 month. Even the main theme of the 'anushthan' (event) was unknown to everyone, including my father. About 80 people had bee invited to come to this 'Musical Evening'. Earlier we used to have such musical evenings very frequently(every month, perhaps). But this was taking place after 3-4 years. So it was something that most of our invited guests were looking forward to. All of them were my father's friends, and all of them were connected to Arts(either by music, or by poetry, or by drama, etc.).
                         I would be playing 8 musical pieces in my electronic keyboard (in the piano mode), as the presentation continued to play. This music would be an accompaniment for the presentation. Get the idea?
                         After waking up, and having my breakfast and all that, I again sat in front of my synthesizer and started practicing the songs, as the presentation played on the computer screen. At 10:00 am, sharp, I went off to the hall where the 'anushthan' would be taking place. I found out that the stage was quite long in width. It was some kind of momentary assurance...:) Anyway, I went back home again. My mother and father stayed back to make other arrangements. On my way back home, I went to the photographers(who would be covering our entire show using video and still images), and asked them to play my presentation on their laptop. It ran quite well, except for some technical difficulties, but then it was solved too. Back home, I had my lunch really early, say at 11 am, and sat to practice. I practiced for 5-6 times, so it took me one and a half hour to do it. Then, I went off to the hall once again with a laptop(borrowed from the photographer guys). The photographers helped me to set up the entire arrangement-the screen, the laptop and the projector. I took my electronic keyboard (Yamaha PSR E-413) and set it up on the stage. I set up the special light arrangements, for playing in the dark(as the hall would be when the slideshow would be on). The, I again played the 8 songs, to get mixed with the hall environment. But, surprisingly though, I found out that I did not feel extremely shaky. After that, the guests slowly started to come in. The sound system team was not yet there. I greeted them myself, because my father, mother and my sister were not in the hall yet. 
                       By 6:00 PM, everyone was in the hall. My mother started the evening by greeting everyone. Following that was the vocal performances by my sister and a friend of my mother.
                       Then, my mother released the real reason for which all the people were called that day-the celebration of my father's 50th birthday anniversary! Following that, all of us celebrated the event of cutting a cake(made of chocolate flavoured 'mishti'), and after that, after everyone had had thei piece of cake, I started my performance. When it started, I was feeling a bit heavy, but as I had decided, I became completely engrossed in what I was playing-the 'Moonlight Sonata', by Beethoven. This was the real trick that helped me to cool down. The heavenly music(which I had learnt the best so far, ie, I could play without paying much attention to the playing of the piano and feel the song) soothed me to a great level! Then, as the song ended, I looked up to the page in front of my(on a stand) to see which song I was to play next, and that was the moment when I realized that I was actually playing in my home(the feeling was so). The only difference was the big screen on which the slide show was being projected.
                       After that, I played the 8 tracks with the same ease as I had had while I had practiced at home! Thus, the experience was wonderful...especially when I first got my first applause!!! The last track that I had played was the song 'Speak Softly' from the Godfather movie. So, the ending was also nice. Overall, to tell the truth, the whole experience had been wonderful-something that I will truly remember for the rest of my life!
                       But along with that, I'll also remember another special thing-my father's warm hug on returning home. That was something even more special to me. It really was memorable!

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One more to go...

Now that my literature exam is down, I only have to give the maths exam tomorrow. But that is the most frightening test. I have tried real hard to complete most of the tough sums that my tutorial teacher gave me to do(but, along with this I should be thanking a special person-my uncle, who actually completed all of the sums for me, and guided me in the proper way. Now, only time will tell if all that effort was worth. Tomorrow's test will mostly consist of questions from that exercise sheet that our tutorial teacher provided us with, but the problem is that most of the problems(on trigonometry) require intelligence(non are stereo type). After this test is over, I will be having to look forward to my chemistry test next week on Saturday. After all these pressures are over(perhaps tomorrow only, after I give my maths test, nicely enough(hoping for that, and I pray to God for that)), I will have not much of a news to blog about. So, instead of wasting my time sitting on the computer blankly, thinking what to blog about, I'll just post my experience of my first playing-in-front-of-the-big-audience, that occurred on my father's fiftieth birthday anniversary. I hope it will be exciting for you to read it.
Ok, that's it for now. Bye and wish me the best of luck for tomorrow..:( :)

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Exams exams everywhere!

Currently I am in a position with exams all around me. If this week and the next week passes peacefully, I can perhaps enjoy a bit when my brother and my aunt come here . They usually come after three years. So let's hope for the best. I just finished watching 'Ip Man' and now I am gonna sit to study for me literature test. The only problem with this year's literature test is that I don't even know what the poem(that has been included in our syllabus) means [I sit and look out], because I too was practically sitting and looking out of my classroom when my school teacher was teaching(as was being done by most of my friends).

Now, returning to my original topic-exams. This Sunday I gave a physics test. It was quite good. Now, tomorrow, as I said, I have my English literature examination, and we will probably be given a summary to write.


Day after tomorrow, I have my maths test on General Trigonometry in my tutorial class. My teacher sets the hardest question paper in the world...it's almost IITJEE standard or WBJEE standard. So, you can guess how hard it is.

Next week I have my school's chemistry test and after that the Computer Science test(that's good...:D).

Now, due to these problems, I can't do two things...in fact three things:
1. I can't practice my piano (I will be doing my first recording in life, real soon)
2. I can't complete the application that I had started working on-a Java notepad, and unless I can finish that I can't start of with my next project-the equation solver.
3. I can't read stories on my Sony Reader PRS-T1(because, when I lie down on my bed, and open up a story, I practically fall asleep within 5-6 minutes(and within that time, I can't read more thatn 10-12 pages)

That's it for now...that's a description of the mini torture I am going through these days...:P Next time I'll probably describe the last trip(it was really spectacular in many ways...:) I'll try to post pictures too).

 Bye!

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