Finally....

... got around to posting a few pics here.

Dinner with Geeks!!!

Arun had invited a few of the students from the Univ to dinner last night. Are they geeks!

Suddenly the conversation changes track and the guys start discussing one particularly pretty student. One of the PhD students was looking a little confused trying to figure out who the rest were talking about. Suddenly one saw enlightenment on his face. "Ok... I know who she is... she's the one with the IBM thinkpad...." Not the hairstyle, or other attributes to jog our friend's memory.

The reactions around were priceless.... jaws dropped, one guy even slapped himself to see if he'd heard right.....

And now I think people (especially Tina) should think twice before calling Arun a geek.

Template generator

I've been rather bored with the look and feel of my blogs, and didn't really care all that much for the templates available on blogger. I really wanted a three column template, colours of my choice etc...

The previous template was alright, but it was absolutely BORING!! Rather colourless... uninspired too.

Today I discovered PsycHo, one of the best template generators I could find online. The customization options are quite comprehensive. It does need some very minor tweaks to personalize it further. If a HTML/CSS doofus like me can do it, trust me, anyone can!

All I need to figure out now is how to get the side columns run the length of the page, and not abruptly terminate where the column text ends. And I also need to know how to lose those bullets against the previous posts.

Comments anyone? And yes, I really need to know the column length thingie... so do put on your thinking caps and help!

PS: I did find a few more bugs and can't figure out how to debug those...

1. According to Axe, he can't click on any of the old comments. He tried clicking on June 2005 and couldn't click on the "5 voices in the dark" thingie. But he could click on the timestamp to view everything, though.... I tried it too.. he's right.. . (check)

2. Just how do I lose those darn bullets agianst previous post titles? (check)

3. Clicking on any link makes it open in a new tab... does anyone who doesn't use a decent civilized browser like Mozilla find they are opening new windows with each click on a hyperlink?

Deepak set that right for me! But there's still other li'l things I need help with.. so all geeks out there can put on their thinking caps!

The newest Bogeyman

My little one has these lovely long curls, but always refuses to brush them. The other day while I was blog surfing she saw the picture on this. She looked again, and turned and asked me: "did uncle's mommy take away all his hair because he refused to wear a ponytail??"

Now I just seat her in front of the comp, and flip to Axe's blog. And Aditi promptly goes, "may I have my butterflies (her word for ponytails) please?"

Poor Axe.....

Shades of dark, darker and darkest...

.. is how I'd describe Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest.

What went wrong?? Was chatting with Axe about this last week, and he cribbed it was too dark, comparing it with The Empire Strikes Back in relation the first Star Wars. I think we all went to watch the Curse of the Black Pearl with minimum expectations expecting a decent action comedy. The Curse of the Black Pearl was funny. The chemistry between Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush was simply brilliant. I, of course, tend to overlook the guy with the sword, but he was a total non-entity in this one... It just wasn't funny. And funny is what I expected after the first movie.

I hated the weird creatures. One supposes that an overdose of the fantasy element (weird mutated creatures) could not really be that funny.

And what's with the score?? I just loved the score in the first movie... the one that goes

Ta-dum-tum-ta-da-dum-dum-ta-da-tum-dum-ta-da-dum

That particular bit played only during the final credits!! It was such an apt score, with a certain flamboyance to act as a counterfoil to that slurring, somewhat effeminate pirate...

Ah well, now that Barbossa is back, maybe the Pirates 3 will be more interesting.
(Highlight at your own risk. Spoiler alert!!)

It wasn't a total loss. I loved the East India Company being portrayed as the baddies.

I don't want to give it a rating, but I suggest that you watch it only if you are a die-hard fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.