Author: Tarique Sani

This weeks challenge for was dreamy. Most people have been posting sunsets, landscapes, sleeping babies and the likes. I wanted to actually photograph a projection of clouds on Swati but the slide projector refused to co-operate… I am not too displeased with what I ended up with 🙂 – A larger version is here. Although a whole lot of you have complimented generously about my pictures I have seldom got many votes. But rather than the votes the biggest motivation for me to post is the fun I have while doing the photography. I am slowly accumulating props and equipment for my home studio, an old tripod, couple of table lamps, white card, black card, white bedsheet, black bedsheet, a 24″x18″ glass pane, a similar sized mirror… …

The week itself proved that there is always hope, almost when even I had given up. Things are still on thin ice but atleast we are not in water.

Long back I had seen a nifty tool which show link between any two LJ users by going through the friends list, The “Six degrees of separation” between any two LJ users – Does anyone have the URL to that script

Yesterday it finally rained. Temperature dropped down by atleast 10C. We could go for our walk it felt so very nice. Later I fell asleep in the veranda with Aasim telling me a story.

I know soon the rains will be the cause of misery all around, least of which is clothes not drying and floor being perpetually dirty BUT right now it is the best thing that could have happened.

Today we are planning to go to the water/amusement park – lets see what Aasim has to say once he gets up.

This week swatisani also has put up an entry for the . I found the topic a bit morbid. Instead of Decay it should have been Rebirth!! I really resisted posting a decaying dead body with popping eyes and tongue sticking out as my entry, instead have put up something very plain and stark. See a larger version.

OK! the subject line got your attention but it is not very far from truth. It is well known that while Java may be great at server level for business processes it really sucks when it comes to web front ends. This initiative for making Java compatible to PHP by Zend and Sun attempts to fix it.

Some weeks ago I had posted an LJ code on someone’s journal. It was picked up there by sohnipreet I had forgotten all about it till today morning when I got a mail from her returning a replacement code – she had gone thru the trouble of finding out SANIsoft’s site, getting an contact email address and writing back.

I am posting the code she sent back here and adding one from my own cache 🙂

Whoever claims it first…

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This is my picture for the theme Toys. With Aasim having toys and then some more toys the choice was a diffcult one. Finally decided upon using something simple and playing with light. The effect show is the result of a flashlight and a table lamp. A larger version is here, some other pictures which I took for the challenge are here. I particularly like the last one which I call Aladdin at the cave of wonders 😉

Just finished gorging ourselves on Hyderabadi Biryani and ice cold Coke

The temperature outside continues to be hellish.

Yesterday Nagpur experienced the hottest day in past 72 years. It was a sizzling 47.3C and is expected to continue for some more days. Thanks to NMC and MSEB there is uninterrupted water and electricity supply, but I never know when I will have to bite my tongue for saying it too soon. Since Nagpur has a very dry weather desert coolers are very effective.

Today I intend to keep an egg in a black box with water out and see if it cooks 🙂

On the somewhat colorfully brighter note – the heat has driven flocks of Blossom Headed Parakeets to our garden in search of food and water.

Otherwise life just is.

One words sums it all “HOT”. I mean really HOT. Nagpur is baking at 47 degrees for nearly past 7 days. So we essentially stayed indoors. It was only toward late evening that we stepped out to check the new Planet M outlet which has opened recently here. Picked up 9 CDs some of them real good. Shubha Mudgal, Begum Akhtar, but the gem is Abida Parveen singing Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Swati, probably, will write about it.

Later we have a nice dinner at one of our favorite eating joints. The cable connection continues to be plagued by UDP flooding. The last recommendation from my cable walla was why don’t I use M$ Windows like everyone else. I really am still under shock.

[Update]
Most people are missing it, the thumbnail above is a link to 15 pictures I took of a Bulbul’s nest – So click on the thumbnail
[/Update]

Have been posting regularly to the . This is my this weeks entry for the theme Red. Red Henna painted hands, Red glass bangles, Red Sari are essential wear for any woman in a traditional North Indian Wedding. Click here for larger version

This weeks choice was a tough one for me, the other pictures that I considered were this, this and this

Things have been rather hectic on the work front – thankfully all projects proceeding as expected, very stress free 🙂

Our Cable Internet Network is under DDOS with UDP Flooding, looks like a few winduhs machines are infected with the likes of wintroo OR whatever, the IPs are obviously spoofed as well – my cable guy is totally clueless as to what is happening and keeps asking me what to do…

Duh! When I tell him I cannot help more than this as I myself don’t know much he gets this hurt look on his face as if I am withholding his favorite candy from him…

Have shifted Aasim to writing using his left hand. Poor boy always used to write all the strokes the wrong way with his right hand but with left hand his strokes are proper but he needs practice. Maybe he is just wired like his dad.

It promises to be another very hot day, I have been following a nest of a Red Vented Bulbul for a past few days, though I never fancy my camera as one to take bird photographs but here are 9 pictures taken around our home of other birds, was lucky enough to shoot a Paradise Flycatcher. Will put the Bulbul series once it is done