What I've Been Up To

This seems to be turning into one of those blogs where every other post laments the lack of new content and then promises to be more frequent with updates! Well, I do have an excuse, sort of. Let me start with about year ago.

I took the GRE last year and after that, was pretty busy shortlisting colleges and completing applications and arranging for the finances to pay the hefty tuition! Once I got my admits (Georgia Institute of Technology, Columbia University, University of Texas, Austin to name a few), I had to decide which one I wanted to accept (I chose Georgia Tech) and then get started with the visa process. To cut a long story short, I got done with everything by the end of June, quit my job and then got packed for a stopover vacation at London with a trip to Scotland. That was pretty awesome.

Since I landed at Atlanta in August, it's been a whirlwind of activity - getting settled in, getting used to the education system here, signing up for classes, getting setup with a phone, a bank account and of course, actually studying! Unfortunately (or not), GATech has a policy that requires 12 credits per semester for a student to maintain an F-1 visa status; this translates into 4 courses which translates into a LOT of work (if you try to do it all properly and aim for an A everywhere, which I do,). Most of my friends in other colleges need to take only 9 credits per semester (that's 3 courses) so they've got it fairly easy.

Well, so that's why I haven't been posting. And I'm not going to promise that I'll post more regularly now because I know I won't be able to, at least not until the end of the semester comes by and I suspect I'll be so drained by that time that I'll just while away the entire break doing nothing but catching up on sleep!

On a more constructive note, I did migrate my website content from Google Pages over to Google Sites so you can go take a look at that; it's a lot sleeker than before and much less kiddish. It's also better organized now, with a complete list of projects and HowTos I've created to date.

P.S. I'm working towards a Master's Degree in Computer Science

A Suzuki Hayabusa...Or Is It?

Through a lack of anything new to post, I've decided to post pictures of a bike that was parked in our basement parking lot; at first glance it appears to be a Hayabusa but on closer inspection, gives away it's actual pedigree.

Note the following:

• The speedometer belongs to the Hunk


• The fuel tank says Suzuki but it also has the logo for Ferrari


• There were other less obvious indications like the shock absorbers and the handle bar which wouldn't really be noticable in the pics so there aren't any

And once again, please excuse the graininess and generally terrible picture quality, I don't have a proper camera anymore and have to make do with my phone.

Side Shot

  

Side Shot II

  

Fuel Tank

  

Speedometer

  

Length Shot

  

Backpack-Style Water Container For Water Gun For Holi

I've said it before, I don't like Holi. But it comes back every year and it's here again. Anyway, here's something interesting I spotted at the market the other day. The pictures are terribly grainy - my phone's camera isn't the best and it was night.

Backpack for water

  

Backpack for water - II

  

Anyway, what you should be able to see is a reddish-pink container for water (to be slung on your back, like a backpack) connected to a water gun (you can't really see that too well in the snaps) hanging upside-down in a plastic cover. Pretty neat and it's something I've not seen before. Too bad we didn't have this when we were kids and when Holi was still clean and fun!