had gone to the Lake District for the second time. it was as boring as the first time, but more expensive. for some strange reason, right from the word go, we seemed to be spending more than necessary. the trip started out with just 4 people, down from the initial 7 for whom the hotel booking was done. then, due to some miscommunication, we ended up booking 2 cars. with 50% cancellation charges for the car, even before the trip started, we were in trouble.
then the lucky streak started, at the petrol bunk. some duffer ended up paying for us, and we for him. luckily, he'd filled lesser fuel, so we saved some 10quid there. at the hotel, we were charged 10quid for cancelling the room, so they kind of cancelled each other out.
next, (and this one i'm particularly happy about) i found a 32MB memory stick on the road - an SDMMC, the kind that fits in neatly into my mobile and PDA !
the thing actually works. there was a video of a BMW ad stored in the card, but nothing else to help me trace it. so i kept it.
lost the tickets to the rides at blackpool.. worth 16quid !
we got a parking ticket.. 30quid, if we pay within 14 days, that is.
on the way back home, we filled up the petrol tank, but the fuel indicator is stuck half way.. so we might have to pay something extra, if we don't manage to convince the 'thrifty' guy.
deepak's mobile's LCD display got screwed during the rides..

all in all, lots of losses and wins to handle in a single trip..

bittorrent goes trackerless !! woohoo.

love google.

finally there's a website in this world where you can go and delete your account, and all personal information stored with it.

it's in gmail. go to settings->account settings->delete gmail service.

funny thing is, you can't register your account on gmail, like other sites. you have to be invited.

piracy is good !
http://www.mindjack.com/feature/piracy051305.html

did you know that "misidentifying loose clothes" can be rearranged to read "infosys technologies limited" ?

Grok

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Grok is a verb roughly meaning "to understand completely" or more formally intuitive understanding. The term originated in Robert Heinlein's novel Stranger in a Strange Land, where it is part of the fictional Martian language and introduced to English speakers by a man raised by Martians.

It is primarily used as slang by Science Fiction fans, geeks and some Pagans, particularly those belonging to the Church of All Worlds but is attested more widely.

In the Martian tongue, it literally means "to drink" but is used in a much wider context. A character in the novel (not the primary user) defines it:

"Grok means to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed—to merge, blend, intermarry, lose identity in group experience. It means almost everything that we mean by religion, philosophy, and science—and it means as little to us (because we are from Earth) as color means to a blind man."

got a decent hike ! life has been good to me.