[100] ... [General] Phew!, that's how Wordle reacts when you manage to guess the cleverly set TRAIN in the sixth and last attempt, when BRAIN, DRAIN and GRAIN failed. It feels the same way on reaching the 100th post. I am not used to setting new year resolutions that never work for the likes of us. When I discovered Listed.to blogging built into Standard Notes, I just jumped in, with nothing to lose. On coming to know of #100 Days of writing, it was the same instinct after a few minutes of c...

[099] ... [General] Poetry is one form of fine expression, to be slowly savoured like chocolate, enjoying and digging into the content word by word, marveling at the thoughts and appreciate the way ensembled that convey the joys, sorrow, pain, philosophy -- a way of looking at the world, both in nature and the man-made. Some have an inborne bent towards the medium to just read or even write, may be some develop it later. Somehow I never got into that circle to be involved or look up to it, bu...

[098] ... [Technology] There was this old joke about a father explaining the greatness and powers of God to do just about anything to his little son. A bit confused at that age to grasp, the son innocently asked "Can he put back half the tube of toothpaste I just squeezed out?". It happened to me once when trying to move an extracted setup folder with huge contents nestled under multiple subfolders to an external drive. Midway the operation stopped saying some system files in use can't be mo...

[097] ... [Technology] Saw something on teddit.net (reflected of course from Reddit), don't recall the exact heading, but ran like "Things Only Internet veteran can remember". Though not a veteran in the true sense (having started with Win98 when XP was already launched) to have been through since the early days of BBS, ARPAnet and such that we have only heard about, did come across the many things others have mentioned, both in hard and software front. Floppy of course, rather Floppies sinc...

[096] ... [General] All is well that ends well. Wish the phrase stood applicable to all aspects. There are things that leave a feel of parting when ended. Like the OS versions that you were so used to, liking some aspects and having got adapted to as second nature, only to say it good bye to move over to the new after a few years. Some realize it in relationships, some feeling the pinch even with their favorite dress, or the pet laptop that may seem trivial to others, but carries much signif...

[095] ... [General] The way we see things invariably differs from many others. When people across the world don't accept God in one form, it's natural on differences even in the mundane. Logical viewpoints even if from the other side needs consideration than mere arguments for the sake from those who share your opinion without the basic analysis. Something similar surfaced during a renewal recently. The agency wanted to verify certain documents, though already done last year. Since I had car...

[094] ... [General] Found an old hand-written bill that has been marking a page in an old book. No doubt the date and prices were nostalgic. Wonder if the shop still exists or continues in a new get-up. But what interested was the little phrase at the bottom-right. E&OE, supposedly "Errors & Omissions Excepted", a disclaimer used in an attempt to reduce legal liability for potentially incorrect or incomplete information supplied in a contractually related document such as a quotation ...

[093] ... [General] Autosuggest. If correct, this was first seen in .chm format help files that tried narrowing down your search when you preferred to look for terms & phrases than wading through the long list of ready links. Picking up from the readily indexed, they showed the available topics for your query. Later this feature got into the browser, linked to the online index, perhaps with added popularly searched keywords apart from what's already scooped from various sources, to guess ...

[092] ... [General] I don't know if such a custom exists elsewhere, down here a day is marked to honor the aids that support your trade or profession. Machinery, tools, gadgets, instruments, and the like that makes your line of work possible. Factories, offices, workshops of all sorts, follow it giving them a day's rest. For individuals at home, a scissor, knife, screwdriver or anything you wish including pen and pencil substitute, and of course the vehicles they own, that keeps them on the ...

[091] ... [General] ... and they lived happily thereafter. All fables end that way on a positive note. Thereafter or for ever after shouldn't be the concern fully knowing the characters being mortals, allowing some poetic justice. Wish things were that simple with all things concerned. Like he got a job and lived happily thereafter, unless it's a government service entitled to pension. No layoffs, pink slips, no hurdles as in other streams. Or he installed the OS and did the same. No hassles...

[090] ... [General] More and less are often expressed in conjunction, though being the opposites. "Less is more" said the late architect Mies van Der Rohe and applied the dictum in his works, stripped off the unnecessary and ostentatious features, so the basic structure stood in its minimalistic elegance. But Less is bore quipped some who saw the role of seemingly unnecessary, that was necessary to bring semblance and human aspects than be machine-like. Some put in more work though getting p...

[089] ... [General] More than "To be, or not to be", "To do, or not to do" is something we all face more often. Small or big the task, it's a required decision. From taking a backup on phone or computer to doing your laundry, to declassify or press the nuke button, fish or egg, decisions vary with the ones concerned, placed accordingly. Long ago, having finished the hardbound collection of Holmes, it was time to move on. There are authors of yesteryears whose finesse remains unknown unless e...

[088] ... [General] Every day carries some importance in general for all or in particular to some. Earlier a selected few like the Independence day, Republic day, Thanksgiving day or the Memorial day, Labor day and such governmental or federal holidays came in and were easy to remember. Don't know if they existed before or keep getting added to signify something we are not aware of, since a decade, or perhaps ever since social media took control, every now and then we are told of that day bei...

[087] ... [General] Once upon a time, is how most fairy tales begin, and as children we imagined people and places stretching our imagination, though the King and queen always were taken to be what we had seen pictured elsewhere. Pictures that represent something to convey as a symbol stays with us throughout. Like the Desktop icon in old Windows 95 that showed the top of a traditional office desk in green felt secured on the four corners, with the paraphernalia needed to work. Now of course ...

[086] ... [General] It's difficult to do anything with constant distraction that crops up just then. Specially writing, that too without anything in particular to start with. You are into an online transaction on the phone and a call that could have waited a bit does its duty methodically, sometimes even cutting off data connection thinking the caller is more important. In the middle of some work on the computer, the firewall pops out an alert, or a program comes up with a notification, when ...

[085] ... [General] Once at the museum, it was interesting to see a wide variety of weapons, ranging from knives of all sizes & pattern, matchets, swords, spears to cannon balls from various periods. Those didn't seem to be for hunting. Don't know if we were supposed to appreciate the craftsmanship or the clever design aspect understanding the materials available then, or merely wonder if people down the ages had no other notion on mind than being preoccupied with violence and killing one...

[084] ... [General] In a way this should have been part of the last post, but came to mind later. Rather than updating the previous, and also to avoid being too jokey, with another joke on numbered references, is treated separately. A large prison's inmates spent their time by sharing jokes. The first thing they tried was to extract more jokes whenever a new mate joined. After a while they realised on having heard them all. Instead of someone repeating a known joke and others waiting to lau...

[083] ... [General] Roll no 32 Present Sir Roll no 33 ... This used to be a school teacher's way of taking attendance, preferring their serial number than call out their names. May be he even identified us through the associated number at other times. Some people have their own approach and find easy. Reminds of a joke: A maths professor was travelling by train, that was slowing down over a bridge when nearing a village station. He saw a herd of sheep grazing, spread across underneath. When...

[082] ... [General] Dip, dip, dip Add the sugar And the milk And it's ready to sip Some how, this jingle from what I remember the late nineties of a TV Ad on tea bags when they were first introduced, has remained in mind. Could be because they were often repeated or may be since being simple with a catchy tune. I have been trying to recollect a few lines of the poem Casablanca, without a hint, but this kind of day to day stuff have no such restrictions in staying along. But the Dip which br...

[081] ... [General] Most of us like catching up with news from various sources. Starting with the morning newspaper when you are at home with TV counting if staying longer or back from work. Otherwise mostly on the Net when on the move. Newsoholics have their RSS feeds set to constantly check every few minutes, never to be left behind from the things just in. Local, regional, national and international form the areas of interest in general for all, in addition to technology, science, entertai...

[080] ... [General] At one point of time you are likely to look back at the state of changed times in view of something similar encountered before. Even a decade shows up much difference. Such a thought came when visiting a big market after years. It used to be the main hub long ago, and still is in a way, though numerous shopping malls have taken away a large section from the stench and overflowing crowd. Though technically it referred to one large building, the whole area that spreads may b...

[079] ... [General] Some how getting the government related works done appear scary for the number of processes involved that often become a tool to curtail the smooth flow in the hands of some. So, when I had such a work yesterday and returned sooner than expected with no hindrance, it was almost dream-like. Not sure if the right ones who do their job sincerely were in charge or all things in order from my side aided it, it was memorable compared to the hassles my friend is still experiencin...

[078] ... [General], [Technology] Some people take home security seriously. Double locks, surveillance CCTV, burglar alarm and may be something else that they know better. Depends on where you live - - more remote, more the care. But despite all the care, if someone else has a duplicate key, or the webcam occasionally or regularly transmits the content secretly elsewhere, it obviously defeats the intention. The similarity came to mind when reading Chrome & Edge Enhanced Spellcheck Featur...

[077] ... [General] Online activities, particularly involving payments are convenient so long as everything goes smooth. Both your bank and the receiver's servers should be running without glitches so you are sure it went through at the end. Last week there was a little problem. Though the bank deducted the amount instantly, the other end went back to the homepage than acknowledge the payment to enable print the proof. I kept checking the transaction status, after allowing a day for possibl...

[076] ... [General] Yesterday's post reached the three-fourth way. Like Robert Frost said "There are miles to go..." I am not into poetry, but remember Frost from the Poem collection we had during school as a part of English: "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". The memories remain strengthened through a short film on him at the American embassy. Somehow as observed even in others, many things from the early days always remain etched. Though we studied these fine compositions, the mere ...

[075] ... [General] The relation between Action and Reaction in nature was observed, made eloquently clear and postulated as a law long ago. The two are not restricted just to the physical objects in motion, but even in human nature as we all know through daily experiences, triggered verbally whether spoken or written. You don't need to be subscribed to social media platforms to know the trend of opinions and the volley of support and onslaught to remain updated on many issues. Most of it be...

[074] ... [Technology] Another day, another topic. It's easier said than done to find a thing to write about. The mind goes blank and not very encouraging to stare at the blank screen, though the keyboard with twenty six alphabets offers countless possibilities. But I realized even blankness has something to offer when just fiddling around the browser bookmarks without a purpose or looking out for something in particular. One such turned out to be Blank page that lay hidden, and I don't reca...

[073] ... [General] One of my friends never picks calls from unknown numbers as a rule. He finds it convenient, considering anyone not in his contacts list to be necessarily a spam caller. A few days back he received one such and was about to cancel, and I suggested to answer and block it later if matching his criteria. The caller turned out to be his friend from abroad and here for a holiday, with whom he had stayed a few years back, and was trying to get in touch to drop in before returning...

[072] ... [Technology] Sudden alert on the computer: Anti-virus did not find any malware activity. Your device was scanned X number of times. When the notification area suddenly gets populated calling your attention, you wonder if something is wrong. You stop midway from whatever onto, only to find that you are safe. Would be better if those toasts really pop up in the crucial moments than bother you all the time. Sounds like the old sentry on the watchtower in those days, shrieking Two o' Cl...

[071] ... [Technology] In online activities, everything is fine so long as the browser loads the page to start with. Today I had problems when a government portal that required a visit to renew wasn't going further in Opera browser, and got repeated even on MS Edge. Wondering why, the only reason I could guess was on both being Chromium engine based, obviously what doesn't in one, repeats in the other. There wasn't even a pre-requisite mentioned on the preferred browser type. Finally I though...

[070] ... [General] I once looked up the dictionary during Is aught being done? Is aught being found out? from an old novel. Aught from those days turned to be Anything that we now use. And as guessed, during Is there naught that we may do to save her?, Naught meant the other way, Nothing. May be I am not literary enough to have come across them things in the hardbound volumes, or gone through the Testament, New or Old. It's interesting how certain words and expressions turn to being archaic...

[069] ... [General] Often we come across certain odd ways of writing both in print and the way someone communicates or fills an application. We were told to use a period or a dot for the initials when it formed part of a name. There wasn't much explanation on the need and we just followed. Usually everyone had initials in two parts, the first signifying the native place of the family followed by father's name. No doubt the way of naming isn't constant all over. There are other names of compa...

[068] ... [Technology] Another cloudy day with momentary sunshine that's gone before you even sense. The saving grace being the weekend, and both an ideal combo to read. If you prefer the ebook way, chances are Standard ebooks is something already known. I discovered it recently. A place to find your favourite electronic version on a wide array of topics and genre. Surely there are other well-known outlets that serve the same, but to know how this differs, it is better you head to their Abou...

[067] ... [General] It has been an eventful day with the end one particular era, of a long period that spanned pages from the past that we only get to read, to the recent pandemic. It is rare for someone to be active for such long, still admired and making her nation and many beyond feel the loss. Of course, it doesn't affect those outside much the same way, but easy to sense the "they don't make such anymore" kind of observation. My mother remembers seeing her on her visit to our country wh...

[066] ... [Technology] Sometimes you see a link in the middle of a write-up to something on Reddit, but the chances are it opens only if you are on the computer with any browser. On the phone, in my experience it always demands you either use Chrome or install their app. Both don't suit me. As to the first, I use different browsers that don't seem to qualify, and secondly I am not registered, since not much inclined to be part of it all through. I have long since bookmarked Greycoder that li...

[065] ... [General] One downside of smartphones is the convenience that doesn't need you to remember anything. It's all there to appear at a mere tap. Unlike with the ancestral landline phones that, though didn't demand, required you to remember and dial most contacts off hand. Except our own and a few of the family, we hardly recollect those other digits these days. In fact, a few such which encouraged you to do something have kind of disappeared. When we were young, a bank used to give aw...

[064] ... [General] When a friend got transferred on a new posting, he first enquired on the general climate of the region since it was quite sultry early in the year. His colleague just remarked casually, "We have Summer or extreme summer". He drove the point quite well. Now of course, there seems to be very few regions not affected by rain. So much for the climate change that many see as a curse. Where rivers don't exist, the very roads become one with knee deep water formed by overflowing...

[063] ... [General] It's nice to meet old friends, out of touch for very long. That's, so long as at least one or both identify each other. I met one after so many years, and though he had changed, was comfortably recognizable. But he recalled meeting one other common factor recently and feeling at a loss on who it could be when he had suddenly turned up and talked to him while shopping. Seems the other guy had gone through a bad patch both physically and otherwise that had robbed off the loo...

[062] ... [General] One more day, and one more wondering on what to put in to keep it going. Only the entry numbering gets done effortlessly, but what really matters is what follows. Talking of "what follows", one related that comes to mind is the quote by American architect Louis Sullivan: Form follows function. Obviously he referred to the symmetrical aspects followed till early twentieth century with public buildings mainly constituted by palaces, churches, temples and such, and to break ...

[061] ... [General] Earlier driving down out of town involved either following the milestones or asking someone for directions, that's if you were not used to referring the road map. Now of course most turn on the location on the phone and get leaded to wherever, with not a single soul coming between. Interacting with someone always leads to a more personal involvement, often getting to know of interesting places enroute, or coming to know of their dialect that adds spice to life. We have di...

[060] ... [Technology] I still remember when the new ISP subscribed to offered a whopping 1GB for three months. Looked great, compared to the expensive phone-based modem connection that ticked by the seconds. Downloads were small, may be 4MB per the anti-virus and other updates. There wasn't much multimedia on webpages, and the allotted data easily lasted despite being connected through the day. But that was may be fifteen years back, and things have changed. What was restricted to purely th...

[059] ... [General] Unlike here with the walls built in brick or blocks where you can hammer a nail wherever at will to hang something or to mount something else, in the West with dry walls veneered on both sides of the supporting studs it obviously is no easy task. An elderly friend of our family went abroad to visit the son and seemed a bit disappointed on a framed family photograph he had carried last was still lying around without a nail to hang from. The busy schedule on the other end, n...

[058] ... [General] Many are used to doing multiple jobs at a time. Not sure if multitasking came to associated with the various processes running on the computer, or the term was already in use in general. They work on the computers with a variety of programs running in the background, talk over the phone, or have the headphones on for music and such. Sometimes it's not understandable if each such job is carried out with the due attention needed. The most amazing are the ways most ladies wo...

[057] ... [General] There was an error in numbering yesterday's post. 53 should have been 56. So much for copy and paste to save time, where you miss out editing the most required. We often end up with such errors unknowingly or when in a hurry or when taking it for granted. Once a hyperlink in a webpage began with <a> and the whole page turned into a blue-underlined link since the </a> tag to end it had gone missing, somehow getting deleted in the process of restructuring a sen...

[056] ... [General] If ever I am put off by something, it's those CAPTCHAs on many websites, asking you to prove your existence as someone with a brain, human that is, than something artificially programmed to act like one, as to prove it wrong. No matter how many traffic lights you identify, it moves on to crosswalks, keep doing to encounter stairs, and trucks, and back on to traffic lights. You begin to doubt if you are really human and start all over including the poles and frames that sup...

[055] ... [General] Movies and books used to be the favourite passtimes. While the latter is a personal choice and involvement, and still continues, the other was looked forward to as an occasion right from the college days when we all went in a large group. The long walk through acres of public park that formed the city centre never looked tiring. Though we split into smaller groups on the way to facilitate movement, there used to be common jokes and observations enroute that involved all. A...

[054] ... [General] At one time when Text Expanders or Text Expansion tools were all new, I used it quite a bit on the PC. It made outputting frequently used phrases by storing each to trigger with a shortcut of assigned letters, when followed by a blank space or hitting the Enter key. It was handy to avoid retyping often used snippets, or HTML codes or even full letters sometimes, depending on your work. Only you need to remember the matching shortcut and take care that what's assigned is no...

[053] ... [Technology] My first brush with file encryption was through FreeOTFE (On The Fly Encryption) that enables to create containers or volumes of desired size, and once set with a password, formatted and mounted like a CD or DVD, lets you copy files onto it or work on files within like the normal ones on a physical drive, till you unmount like ejecting the CD or an USB drive. I liked the simplicity of the program that also runs in a portable mode. But that was during WinXP, and also wor...

[052] ... [Technology] Much of today's morning went off waste. I had planned to go out on some work, though not very urgent. Prior to that I thought of referring to something that lay encrypted in a program that's in use since over ten years, and never failed. To my surprise and later horror, the set password wasn't accepted after repeated tries and it kept closing after three failed attempts. Combinations, guesses and whatever else tried was neatly rejected. The said program is one which act...

[051] ... [General] Someone staying on our road went abroad for a few months, and many changes were seen on her return. The most obvious being the headphone, always tucked on. You don't need to be extra observant to note similar habits by many these days. To some it's a fashion statement, to others the thing to do like all others. Whether they are walking on the road or in the park, reading a book or riding a bike, travelling by bus or metro rail, they seem always hooked on, obviously list...

[050] ... [General] It's one of those days when the mind goes blank, a feeling that all you wanted to say is already covered, and a "hardly anything more to add" kind of feeling. Nothing flashes like in the earlier days. But just then, while numbering this post, it occurred on it reaching 50, a halfway mark for the set 100 days of writing. Fifty also connotes many other hallmarks. Many celebrate (or curse?) on reaching fifty or having lived half the life. That's going by the standard life e...

[049] ... [Internet] We can't do without a messaging app these days, since email has turned passe for normal exchanges. With Internet charges having come down, everyone wants to do it quick. It's more instant without the log-in hassles, sending photos and files is a breeze, you can message, communicate through audio or video modes, form groups & channels, and so many more reasons that makes it a necessity for a company executive or right down to your housemaid. I have tried many of them,...

[048] ... [General] Someone wanted to know what time I normally go to sleep, and was surprised on it to be well after eleven PM. "Why so late?" was the next, and I had to explain never in my life since the college days have done it earlier to that, for the simple reason of turning off the radio when the day's broadcast ended at eleven. We were all hooked to the last hour of old songs that provided a ready topic for the next day. Of course, the habit of listening to radio is almost gone, take...

[047] ... [General] Happened to read this article Why You Should Take Pictures of Your Physical Media Collection and found it interesting, to catalog your media collection and tracking them through the serial numbers and such in the event of theft or losing etc. Normally we have heard of making copies of your collection, but this added another dimension. It brought up a childhood memory nevertheless. My father encouraged us to read and regularly bought a variety of books. Comics, translated...

[046] ... [General] People these days don't seem to have much patience--me included--specially when browsing. Gathering many things through headlines or a quick run through the synopsis at the top of each article serves most to stay updated than go into depth on any subject. With so much to catch up with, probably the habit curtails us from dedicating more time to just a few selected stuff. We are all in a hurry for the latest. Unlike the newspaper in the olden days that was the only source a...

[045] ... [General] Last week brought in some bitter news. Passing away of two known people, a lecturer during college and a classmate. The first one was taken with a bit of acceptance since he reportedly was not keeping well for quite a while. I last saw him twenty years back before he moved moved out of the city and later lost touch, but many of us kept remembering him for his contribution towards a particular subject though for a short while. A few of our senior mates who had a longer rela...

[044] ... [General] There are many who like to take a walk no matter what the distance is, in comparison some can't do without their vehicles even for the shortest of places. It's probably a different matter in countries where the sidewalks are broad, the air is clean and not much traffic to bother about coming in the way of pedestrians making it a delight. In most other places it's different, trees on the sidewalks that bulge it out, parked vehicles, frequent dips in level where a house need...

[043] ... [Internet] Browsing the Net is no doubt useful and enjoyable so long as you get what you want, but can't really avoid the unwanted. It comes bundled with the Ads that surround the required part, scripts that do other things in the background and other distractions that need plug-ins to circumvent. Some browsers do have the Text-Only or Reader mode to display just the required on the desktop, masking those extras, but often the links within the text get removed or the navigation does...

[042] ... [General] A few years back I had been to the kind of a central hub with the line of shops on a long road and in the numerous adjacent alleys, each selling all sorts of electronic stuff and the computer related. You are sure to find anything if you have the patience and time, nothing is denied by any owner. You wait thinking the assistant is looking up among the loaded shelves in the rear, while one other goes about to obtain from some other shop. You are happy the job is done, and h...

[041] ... [General] Came across a bundle of neatly stacked large-sized paper envelopes, and was surprised to see many old newspaper clippings that my father had carefully preserved. Some were older than thirty years, turned a bit yellowish but clearly readable. Some were clippings and others a full two to four full pages, neatly folded. It was interesting to flip through old content, mentioning many people now no more, political news of yester years, Ads of many products in black and white, g...

[040] ... [Technology] Earlier there used to be reports of the phone's battery exploding while charging or when attending to calls with the charger on. Whether that happens to some very low-end unbranded models or due to a sudden surge, it is better to play it safe. I had mentioned a note taking app that had some tips, and one such was Using your phone while it's charging can damage the battery. This is why the cords for chargers are so short. When I looked up to verify the above advice th...

[039] ... [Technology] We all have some pet stuff to carry out particular works that makes us feel comfortable. It's probably knowing how it works that makes working with it a breeze. I have seen people with old vehicles and keep getting it repaired than change over, some even cling to an old screwdriver and such for personal reasons. When it comes to computing and Internet, a browser naturally becomes an integral part, and there are so many of them to choose from. Most seem like toothbrushe...

[038] ... [General] If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium was perhaps the way the tourists determined the place they were in while on an European trip. Somehow, though bowled over by the grandeur of European architecture and planning, I have missed seeing the movie of 1960s, and hope my guess is right. But no prizes to guess the significance of Tuesday if you are a Windows user. If it's the Second Tuesday, it has to be Updates, and promptly they do come without a fail each month. The huge downl...

[037] ... [General] A note taking app that I had for a while contained sample quotes, tips etc to convey various formatting options. One such was: Take a sip of coffee before adding sugar, you won't need as much sugar for it to taste as sweet afterwards.. What I found interesting was its similarity to many things in life. Often great expectations lead to heartburns when not working the way expected. Just doing whatever you are on with total dedication leads to better results without the prec...

[036] ... [Technology] When PDF drivers became available to convert your other format it used to be fun, seeing your own output in the reader or browser that otherwise were used to open ready stuff like help files and such. Over the years the portable format has become de facto for most of our daily needs from bank statements, eBooks, receipts to almost everything online. There has been continuous development to add further features than just be content with the original conversion. A few ye...

[035] ... [General] Yesterday I noticed my friend with a new handset, one of the current premium models supporting 5G, and though that generation of network is yet to get rolled out here, the device is ready enough. Being used to seeing him with a new one once every or two years it wasn't surprising, but since the last one was equally good and hardly any old, it was assumed to have run into problem of one sort, which if was in my custody would never have happened. It proved true on learning l...

[034] ... [General] We always leave behind our trail, through footprints or tyremarks or may be even through the chain of events, though not to aid others to follow-up. The same however doesn't apply to the digital ones that lead to getting tracked, analysed, processed, and made use of in suitable ways by the bigger ones, keen on knowing you better than your own family. At most you can hoodwink to an extent through a VPN if really concerned, otherwise it's too clear, but how many really care?...

[033] ... [Technology] Once you own a smartphone (almost mandatory these days anyway), it's natural to populate it with all sorts of apps, with both the really required and the ones that someone suggested or now being talked about, or when finding an alternate. Before installing, most go through the app's description and the users comments. Invariably you bump into many whose reviews don't rise above what's already pointed out by others or an outright thumbs down, and it's easy to make out su...

[032] ... [General] No one would believe it to be original if you invented a joke, which might have flashed suddenly out of a situation or through observation of something odd, a slip of tongue by someone and such by accident. Jokes are normally considered to be fatherless (OK, anonymous respectfully), no one knows the by whom and whens of its origin and they just go around without patents, often in altered forms, conveniently adapted to locally identifiable flavors when the original doesn't ...

[031] ... [General] It's interesting how different people react to humor, varying from an uncontrollable laugh that runs to many minutes to a loud "Ho Ho Ho" or "Ha Ha Ha", originating straight from their abdomen, that curiously counts to just three, and suddenly stops like the rain after a cloudburst, as if nothing ever happened. Some have the habit of interjecting "Oh I know this one" no sooner as someone begins to narrate. My elderly friend mentioned a colleague who by nature never laughed...

[030] ... [General] There was a time when movies (or motion pictures for the older generation) ruled as the sole medium of entertainment, after taking over theatre to an extent. Radio used to be the chief mode of audio entertainment for the masses (records or vinyl were still expensive) till the cassette players became common enough to afford, later the video tapes for movies, and then came the world of computing with CD and DVD that gave easy access, quickly followed by the affordable Intern...

[029] ... [General], [Reading] May be you too have wondered on 'how come all murders happen in England' in most English mystery and detective novels, or how New York is often the place chosen from the Aliens to Godzilla to King Kong to let loose all mayhem, and many such how and whys. The second might be an easy guess for it provides a familiar backdrop recognised the world over, enchanting surroundings, people of all creeds, economics being no criteria to set right the damages in no time, a...

[028] ... [General] Some are born to lead, most to just follow, a few to change the world, and of the many types that exist, there are some who always kick-up a racket, and a slightly diluted form of such who never get anything right, surprising us with their ways on "how could they?". Thankfully such are often the quiet type and don't seem to take criticism harshly, and sometimes their oddities prove helpful as workable solutions to the otherwise accepted problems. A previous post Passing P...

[027] ... [General] It rained heavily last night, naturally since we are well into the season in this part, seeing it on and off each day, and sounds ironical to hear of summer heatwave in other continents. Rains bring in memories, the ones that lash heavily to leave a lasting impression. It's a bit worrisome, the way it's growing more each year. Some see it poetically, looking out from the warmth of their home. To Chaplin it hid his tears when getting drenched. In many countries the roads ge...

[026] ... [General] As a figure of speech, "All roads lead to Rome", and these days all things covering technology, on the Web or in print, besides the other news outlets lead to just one ongoing, positioned always on the top--about the owner of many billions and the platform of many million users in one way or the other, almost to the point of nausea. There's obviously more to come, and more to see in the coming days, and "We the living" are forced to witness "will he, will he not" or "will ...

[025] ... [Technology] If you work on different devices, and need info from one on the other, one method is to use apps that work on all platforms with Web support additionally, like Standard Notes, OneNote, Evernote and such well-known, or keep emailing yourself whenever you find things of interest. I was following the second method (in fact still do, encrypting with PGP for the sensitive), in addition to the first. The other way than emailing is to store such info as drafts in your account,...

[024] ... [General] As mentioned in my very first post, I discovered this platform built-into Standard Notes rather late, and since having got into, used to generally glance at the list of other authors that the homepage links to. It was a bit intriguing (though not particular) not to find mine among the recent even after three weeks. Considering it to be probably getting updated monthly, or based on a few other criteria like regular posting or the word counts and such I refrained from seeing...

[023] ... [Technology] Two weeks back I mentioned the thrill of receiving the OS update on my phone, at last. The process always assures you on being safe, bringing additional features. I am, rather was used to keeping an eye on the clipboard, removing the unwanted recently cut or copied, to retain just the selected past snippets that are regularly used, so they never get replaced by the not so important new ones to stay within the dozen or so allowed count it's designed to hold. It helped i...

[022] ... [Trends] Of course, though with email largely continuing as an unavoidable organizational tool, taken over by messaging apps, and having turned passe for personal communication to a great extent these days, one aspect of it came to mind during the last post, and I thought of adding it anyway in continuation. What you notice during a new mail notification, on the desktop or phone is the subject and sender info. If the subject conveys in brief what's in the body, it becomes clear t...

[021] ... [Trends] When I started using Internet, my initial email correspondences included "Dear..." and the customary "Thanking you" whenever the first message was from my side, and I used to feel odd when someone just keyed-in the required so casually with no such formalities. The feeling used to get heightened when many others wrote in all lower case. May be the observations were natural since having just migrated from the routine of posting typed and stamped letters, that were a ritual b...

[020] ... [Reading] In the last post Evolving meanings I referred to the mix-up in interpreting WC and the resultant humor. Wherever the British ruled, WC is generally considered to mean Water Closet or a toilet, though sort of a now extinct term like LAV that the old time Americans abbreviated for Lavatory. These days of course 'toilet' is the accepted way. But if you search, the abbreviation takes on many forms, from World Cup to Wise County to Wise Crack, Web Components to World Congress a...

[019] ... [Reading] I remember to bookmark or copy to notes what sounds interesting to me when reading an e-book or elsewhere, and many times it comes in handy or leads to learning something, like in the one below from an old book. ... showed me to a room upstairs, where I placed my bag. The furniture of the place was of the sort one expects to find in an ordinary lodging house—horsehair sofas, loo tables, lustres, and so forth. Since these days loo connotes something different, I wondere...

[018] ... [Life] When I was six or seven my father once sent me to his friend's house, two roads away to get a book. Roads were invariably empty those days with very few vehicles and it wasn't difficult to find the place. Somehow the first impression of that house has remained etched till date. The tiled roof, the little garden and narrow stone pathway set in grass, the glow of morning eastern sun, the rear side of a large temple opposite, the partially enclosed verandah with cane furniture, ...

[017] ... [Life] I grew up with a liking for comics. Our father would buy us comic and so many other books regularly, me and my brother waited for those daily comic strips in the newspaper. Phantom, Mandrake and Modesty Blaise were what ours carried. There was of course the ever favorite Blondie printed in large size in a long ago extinct, tabloid-sized weekly, in black and white. Later another Sunday newspaper introduced us to Beetle Bailey and Bringing up Father. Much later Archie and Denni...

[016] ... [Trends], [Technology] Over the past six to ten years there's a marked change in people, as most of us have observed. Ever since social media has become main stream, this aspect has got so much strengthened, may be to a point of nausea. I am referring to the way politics has seeped into our daily lives. It probably used to be on the cards for a short while when a new government was due to get installed, either the same managing to come back or some other, and the minds of people use...

[015] ... [Trends], [Technology] Barring the recently generation born ten to fifteen years ago, we all have moved on from the landline phones. The good old instrument, that like the typewriter needed to physically press the keys. It had a sense of intimacy where you remembered most of the contacts' numbers off-hand. In most phones there were no caller identity feature, the little LCD panel that displayed the incoming number. Built-in address book that held a limited numbers came in later, and...

[014] ... [Trends] The other day I was reading a film review, and found it a bit confusing. There were references of actor throughout which sometimes indicated a male and female in other places. I grasped the trend from a TV show which coincidentally mentioned on all who act being called actors, with the old term actress that clearly distinguished (besides adding an air of respect) sent to the side wings, obviously in vogue with the current trend of gender equality. Luckily some fields don't...

[013] ... [General], [Reading] There was a time when I would read a book per week, carrying to work, managing to move forward on the way to and back from work (sometimes even at work as a diversion when stuck with an idea or a problem). Otherwise adept to reading in my own language, short stories, magazines, the habit of reading English books started at school, probably beginning with Enid Blyton, inspired perhaps by my classmates who were into it and discussing during the lunch hour. May be ...

[012] ... [Technology] The technically interested ones always follow the news on updates and upgrades related to operating systems or apps. So when in early January there was news of Android 12 update for selected models, I got curious and no doubt got thrilled to find mine to qualify. But the approximate time of getting it looked so distant, in June that is for the rollout in stages to reach me. Came June and I was prompt in checking for software update, and continued for a week or more and...

[011] ... [General], [Technology] Yesterday I made a reference to those having moved from computer to smartphones, and now feel that aspect could be elaborated a bit on its benefits while getting adapted to the smaller device with no effort. We have a lot of contacts using smartphones, virtually everyone is since banks and many government services these days won't work without a mobile number. OTP has become the new mantra that everyone knows. I often read the users reviews while installing ...

[010] ... [General] I have been keeping an eye on the posts to keep track by numbering, and a sense of--I won't say elation, but a so much yet to go came today when the total reached double digit. It's understandable for parents to feel proud when the child reaches ten, or a couple celebrating ten years of living together, the thrill of commemorating tenth year in one's own house or someone rejoicing their savings reach the tenth million--but a mere tenth post? Too miniscule, regular writers...

[009] ... [General], [Life] Today is the 13th of the month -- so what, anything special? Nothing in fact, the number is unavoidable whatever you are counting it towards. I just made it a point to write about something connected to the generally considered ominous numeral. It began when trying to find out on the Net the exact Pacific time corresponding to my region so each post appears on the day than falling into the previous. Since being on the self-imposed 100 days of writing, each post ma...

[008] ... [Life] From the moment in childhood when we begin to sense on our own and start interacting with others outside our home and beyond parents and family, a whole lot of people start streaming into our lives. Most of school and collegemates, past neighbours, colleagues at work, professionally connected among them kind of remain on our minds though not in touch, despite the passing of time - - may be because of longer time spent with them intimately. We can recall names and incidents e...

[007] ... [Internet] There's no Internet activity without you searching for something each day. We all know the big names, and some lesser known (if you ever cared and looked-up for such). The choice of such search engines as technically described is no doubt purely personal, with the level of confidence invested to find exactly what's being looked-up. Some don't mind getting tracked through this seemingly simple activity, some are wary and some don't even know of such behind the scene and a...

[006] ... [General] Don't know if anyone besides me has ever noticed this space. If yes, a minor change is much visible, that of the altered blog/journal name since yesterday with a hint under the bio, and this piece is to just make it clear. In fact this should have appeared yesterday soon as it was changed, but being a later thought after posting, got pushed. Two days back I mentioned my brief sojourn with creating Interface, the monthly newsletter as a hobby, and since then I was in two m...

[005] ... [Internet], [Technology] Those who follow technology can't do without poring over a wide array of news on the Net. It's inborne in them to get to know things in detail soon as they happen and get announced. Though most dedicated websites put them up first, dozens of others just seem to reproduce the same differently with catchy titles (often as click-baits hardly matching the content!). RSS subscriptions, visiting the sites, forums, Newsgroups are the other means to stay updated, ...

[004] ... [Internet], [Life] Twenty years back I bought my first PC with better-specs (for that time) for my office to handle some expected projects on the anvil. The previous one at home was an used i386 with a whopping 128MB disk and probably 4MB RAM and a tiny B/W monitor gifted to my father that suited DOS-based word processing and such, with Windows 3.1 as a dual boot needing to enter WIN to get-in, but served great with both 4 and 5.25 inch floppy drives to back-up! Unfortunately those...

[003] ... [Reading] I like reading mystery, detective and sometimes those bordered on horror, coupled with the humorous - an odd combination! I prefer the older detective ones where they applied their mind logically to unfold a mystery with clues however small, than the present day mode of mobile number tracking, location co-ordinates, and all that forensic stuff where science takes over. The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he answered with a sidelong glance. "...

[002] ... [Thoughts] Acceptedly this medium of posting to Listed.to is not a full-fledged blogging platform or CMS that allows various means of formatting, publishing, and personalizing through Tags or Labels to stay organized and allowing readers to find previous posts grouped under such . Since the existing Labels work only for your private notes, and in the absence of a search feature, I have begun to add my own Tags on top of each post along with the serial number to keep track. Neve...

[001] ... [Puzzles], [Internet] Though it was popular by that time, I first heard of "Wordle" when the news of NYT having bought it was all over. On searching for the link the first result led to Wordle Game and I got hooked to finding the word each day, with its setup allowing to choose from 4 to 11 lettered words! It was only while sharing the link (and sometimes the results) with someone with similar interests, I came to know of the original UK based site, which now redirects to the one o...

I was just glancing through Listed.to and came across the 100 Day Writing challenge, encouraging to write and publish each day. Though tempting, I am in two minds. First, it's a real challenge, and then you need to have not just appealing stuff to write about but more importantly, put it effectively than filling in with a MeToo attitude! One easier way would be to just put-in a one-liner each day starting with "This is my 1st post" and keep counting to 100 without any effort! But that hardly co...

There's a saying in Sanskrit : Prathama chumbanay, Danta bhagnay. I hardly know or understand the ancient language of the Gods, which most languages supposedly take root from, but know it to mean, rather loosely put - The first kiss damaged the tooth. Though no such thing happened, I am referring to the mix-up in the blog name (Terra) and user name (Mn - short for my name Mohan). I hope in the settings they show it as User name (Author) and Display name (Blog Title) to avoid updating and reshar...

It's over three months since on Standard Notes, and yet, it's just today that I came to know of the linked Listed blogging platform. I had just installed the app casually on seeing positive reviews when trying to switch over from a previously used, specially considering the encryption part of it. In fact it was a mail from Standard Notes highlighting features of professional version that made me look into the features under various plans and later out of curiosity clicked on Listed under the men...