Anyway

You never asked your parents to love you,

but they love you anyway.

You never asked your friends to help you,

but they help you anyway.

You never asked passersby to smile at you,

but they smiled at you anyway.

You never asked your siblings to understand you,

but they understand you anyway.

You never asked strangers to care for you,

but they cared for you anyway.

You never asked your your teachers to give you all the wisdom for life,

but they gave it to you anyway.

You never asked mother nature to create everything you witness,

but she bestowed her abundance on  you anyway.

You never asked me to thank you,

but I am grateful to you anyway.

Technical Convention

     My first experience in attending a convention.I got to know about this through mail.Had a brief idea about FOSS(Free and Open Source Software) through a magazine called Linux for you and I am also familiar with Linux.The thirst for gaining knowledge always beckons me,to know what is happening around the world,which new idea is taking shape,stimulates my brain.Sometimes I over do it,that's when the whole system above the neck hangs,but in the end you take some and leave some,because even though you want your brain to take in all,it gets exhausted.
     Open Source India(OSI) was a three day event,I went on the third day,even though I wanted to keenly  attend the first day's events that was on 1.FOSS for everyone 2.Kernel day,missed it because of other commitments.I've heard a beautiful quote,which I quite didn't understand it in the beginning and as days went by I Learnt to appreciate the beauty of this quote,"Leave something for next time." :) Second day's topic was on Web Development which was totally out of my league so I skipped that.The events were divided based on passes,Platinum,Gold and Silver passes.I got a Silver Pass.
      Third day event was for Mobile developers,but before this event started we had a key note given on Simplify OSS development : About Google Chrome and why did Google go for it  when there are enough web browsers on the market,basically three points

• Made for speed
• Simplicity : They wanted to make a browser which is invisible,which does not interfere between the user and the website.
• Stability

And why did they opt to open source Google Chrome,so that more developers can work on it and in that way the platform gets richer.Google has also come up with a web programming language called DART which is again open source.Then he went on about

• Development tools characteristics
• Project Hosting characteristics
• Deploy App characteristics
• App Engine

Open Source Mobile Virtualization Using Sky Eye : 

        This one was pretty interesting,Sky Eye was created by Chinese and one technical difficulty is all it's documents are written in Chinese and you have to search it  on a chinese search engine.Google doesn't throw much information on Sky eye.You can check the definition virtualization on Wikipedia.The important terms discussed was

1. Emulation : The software that mimics even the internal features of the given Hardware(firmware)
2. Simulation : The software that mimics the behavior of the hardware(external features)

 Both the above software does not take the help of the hardware,but in virtualization,it takes the help of the hardware.Why is it important to embedded space?

• Reduces initial development and maintenance costs
• Help create Hardware and software parallelly 
• And the apps don't have to be accurate

He spoke about various other tools,comparison between Qemu and Sky Eye and coming back to Sky Eye

• It is a board simulator 
• Flexibility to add different kinds of boards 
• Architecture and peripherals
• Prerequisites of the board simulator : config file file,tool chain and boot payload(uboot or linux kernel)

The last part of the session was a demo on how to use Sky Eye.

Android Device Drivers(ADD) :

     This session was what I was waiting for,but  ADD pretty much was the same as Linux Device Drivers (LDD) apart from the few  minute changes which was not presented to the audience.A simple hello world demo program using the init module and the cleanup module,just like how we would write for LDD,absolutely no changes.

Display in Mobile Devices :

     The speaker showed us how the mobile display has changed from a two line monolithic (black and white) screens to colour and how the touch keypad and the display are combined into one these days.He went on too talk about 

• The different kinds of displays the mobile phone manufactures use.
• The Architecture of SOC (System On Chip) used for this : In PC we have only the GPU to process the image,but here along with GPU we have the video accelerator and they process two different images.
• MIPI,smart and dumb panels.
• Linux Kernel  Display Framework : Direct Frame Buffer which is designed for embedded systems

This session concluded with a video of,Future of display devices and how it will change the way we view things now.

Cross Platform Mobile Application Development Using Phonegap : This was more about writing the code for the mobile appication you want to create on any mobile phones working on any platform all under one roof called Phonegap.You can visit the website www.phonegap.com for more information on this and how it works.
      Well,these were the four sessions on Mobile Development.I enjoyed it,having seen so many fancy mobile phones these days and getting to hear about mobile apps,it was more fascinating to know how these are being created,maintained and launched in to the world.To witness,people continuously innovating and collaborating in bringing the best ideas for the world to see  is absolutely fantastic and seems to me like a really cool area to work in.

     

        

Go for a Walk!

    Mornings just can't get better if your out  for a walk or a jog in the gym or better in a park or may be give your self a reason to catch up with friends for a marathon or a run :) When I first joined the gym it was all about losing weight and after I saw some considerable changes,got bored of going,one of the reasons being my friend left and no one to give me company.One of the thoughts in my head that time was,Oh My God! I have to do it for the rest of my life! to stay like this and just never thought it was possible.Then the usual routine of life took over and got bored,really bored of no physical activity and the ever increasing weight with age.The other one time when I lost weight was for my cousin's marriage and what can I say,I was in luck again,another cousin's marriage!:) Realized I just had a month before the marriage to lose some weight so  took the help of Special K too,believe me it works.Found a friend of mine to give me company to the gym again.
   This time it was different,I really enjoyed going to the gym and wanted to continue it,to make it part of my life.My friend got bored and left after two months but I didn't.I look forward to it well almost everyday and even if I can't make it for few days,the thought of exercise is always there at the back of my mind.The feeling of being fit is something one should experience and should a lot time for everyday.Like they say,"In a healthy body ,rest a healthy mind."Completed one year going to the gym and boy!,it feels good to say that. :) I even went to the gym on new year because I wanted to do it for the rest of the year :),their were just two of us on that day.Exercise creates so much positiveness in you and your active for the rest of the day.
    Hitting the gym on weekdays and going  to a park on weekends is just amazing.On weekdays your pushing your limit on the treadmill,seeing how far you can go each day and weekends,the atmosphere in the park creating a magical experience,inhaling the cool morning air,absorbing the morning rays of the sun,touching the dew drops on the plants next to the park bench.Sounds of birds and the slight hum of some people's meditative techniques,neighbors meeting for a walk.It's a nice time to reflect on ones thoughts too and it's helps one to get a clear perspective.:)

    

And a little bit of flower photography :)






     Another fun filled activity in the name of fitness with friends for me was the Wipro Run on Oct 15th 2011.A 4km run,but we ended up walking and jogging a little.The quote given to this event was Miles with the Sun because it was happening on that day through out the world,starting from the eastern countries,totally around 23 countries across 6 continents.It felt great to be part of that :) After the run and being pampered with free food,we were looking forward to DrumJam! Every single person is given an instrument and we are supposed to follow the beat which the person on the stage plays.That was an amazing experience standing on the chairs and playing the tambourine. :)

     Their was a surprise performance by singer Vasundhara Das.For the first time I was part of a mini concert  and the best part was,we were right next to the stage.One could truly see that almost everyone was completely enjoying it,like she said,"Music brings people together."I must say the crowd was decent and we had no troubles whatsoever.The sun was beating down on us,but it just didn't matter,she was enjoying,we were having a blast! At a point in time I was in a semi trance like state,living completely in that moment.I still cannot forget that feeling,it felt so good :)

          I am so happy that this moment walked straight into my life :) new experiences,new feeling and a new way to look at life itself :) One of the ways to keep life simple is to,Go for a Walk! :).

A Very Happy Friendship's Day!

    Best things in life doesn't ask for your permission,they just arrive.Two weeks before friendship's day couple of my friends and I decided that we would celebrate friendship's day on Skandagiri hills near Bangalore.Two three days before the trip i thought finally our gang was going to make it because till then no one backed out,but the day before the trip,some of them did because of sudden events,even the night before I tired convincing a few of them,it just wasn't meant to be.Never been that upset because it was so close to happening and I really wanted to spend some quality time with my pals outside the city.Who knew that Sunday would be remembered as one of the best memories of this year.

    Had got in touch with a Friend of mine,Rosh who shares the same joy for riding and she had invited me for a ride on friendship's day with Bangalore Bikers.Never thought my parents would agree to it,but still I asked with a little hope left in me.What can I say,that day was meant to be my day,it was like,even if I didn't wanted to go,fate was just pushing me towards it.Yes,I was going for a thirty km ride to Netegere village.

    The ride was supposed to start at 6:30,but waited for more than an hour for everyone to arrive.There were more than 60+ riders that day with two girls riding,of which one was me on my Activa and biker pal Dixi on her Pulsar 150.The rest of the girls were pillion riders.Just before starting we were given instructions for the ride and to produce our DL. Finally we were on the roll.All the bikes going in a single file,that was the best feeling ever.Wanted the ride to go on forever,to keep going where ever the road takes you :) Kanakpura road was a joy to ride except for few trucks and buses in our way.

           

Meeting point.Yup a whole lot of bikers

        I really had no idea where we were heading except for the name,was just so happy to ride i didn't even bother to ask anyone about the place.Then we took a diversion to our destination.We had to wait at a point so that all the other bikers regrouped.Their was another photo shoot session taking place while we waited.

Photo shoot session

          From then on the ride was totally unexpected,I thought we would park our bikes at the base of the hill and then go for a small trek.That day the world of biking opened up to me,it's called off roading,where there are no tarmac roads and you have to make your own way up the hill.More than thinking whether my bike would make it or not, I was afraid of a flat tyre and where and how  in the world would I get it fixed.You know what they say,the worst you think rarely happens :) Followed the bikers in front of me to lead the way and took it up the first stage.

Off Roading  Begins

       
     I really thought it was over and was ready to park my bike,I remember one of the fellow biker asking  me,"Are you sure,you can take it up? "which my mind did not process at all that time and said,"yeah,I took it up till here."Only when i saw the path in front of me,did i realize what he had meant.Wouldn't really say that i enjoyed it completely because I was really scared for my bike,but then the feeling of accomplishment was sweeter :) 

   

      
      Reached finally!but I didn't want the ride to get over so soon.All of us just chilled out,split in numerous groups.I joined the group who trekked up the hill by foot! Oh yeah! off roading could also be termed as trekking with your bike.

    A view from top

    Getting ready to leave

         When we were kids the happiness inside reflected on our faces with a smile,just like that.I was beginning to believe that it would never happen again,but then it did on this day,was just happy and smiling away to glory,while riding my bike and in silence :) Enjoyed the ride back to Bangalore too. A heart felt Thank You to Bangalore Bikers for letting me be part of their amazing world!

Twenty Eleven

    I remember telling my best friend on new year of 2011,that this year gonna be great and every month of this year has lived up to my gut feeling :) There have been highs and lows,the highs have thought me how i should be living my life and the lows what next I should be doing.Accepting myself just the way I am has helped me understand a lot and in being a better human being.Being true to your self doesn't come easy,it's a slow process,but it worth it because you only have one life to live.

   The thing I've learnt about feelings is,it has to be expressed either in words or in action.Showing gratitude fills your heart with at most joy.Change is vital,bring about change in your life and you'll see your life taking different routes.

    The most important idea I want to share is,Being your best in whatever you choose to do,it maybe being a friend to someone or a daughter or at work or in studies.At some places it comes easy and at some places we have to put in a little more effort,but that's your life's work.No one can replace you in this world to anyone,whether they love you or hate you,remember you or forget you,ignore you or miss you,is jealous of you or admires you.You were part so many people's life and you still are for a reason,whether it turned out to be good or the biggest mistake of your life,but you can always be happy that whatever you did you gave it your best short and that at the end of your life,your happier having lived your life.

    Mistakes happen to all of us,we have to learn to forgive ourselves along with forgiving others in the process and not be scared of making more mistakes but take the lessons learnt from the previous ones.I think one of the best things in life is to keep trying no matter how many times you have failed in whatever you wanted to do,to live all the dreams that you've dreamed off,so what it takes time,so what the world doesn't wait for you,in the end you have to answer to yourself  and not the world.