DD gems

Here is something that brings back fond memories...

http://sharathms.blogspot.com/2005/08/when-doordarshan-ruled.html

"Mile sur mera tumhara" is from the renaissance days of DD after modernization initiated by Rajiv Gandhi. I remember loving that video, plus the "Spread the Light of Freedom" video featuring athletes running with a torch.

The ek chidiya-anek chidiya (I thought it was "ek titli-anek titliya"), the "tree of unity" one with people fighting around the tree (vaguely triangular shaped people, and they do this awesome chicken dance at the end), the one about the bunch of little fishes banding together to scare off the big ones, and the anti-litter one, where the chap goes berserk and starts kicking trash back into peoples homes, all stick in my mind. These were from an older, more simple era - when they didn't have computers to do the glitzy production that I can get from my desktop today.

Update: Some of these videos are now available from YouTube:
Mile Sur Mera Tumhara
Mile Sur Mera Tumhara (MIT version)
Ek, Anek

New world chess champion!

Veselin Topalov is the new world chess champion. He dominated the tournament in San Luis. After starting with a staggering 6.5/7 he put himself out of reach of the rest, and won with a round to spare. Anand was second, winning on tie-break from Svidler.

There is talk about playing a unification match against Kramnik. The PCA title had credibility while Kasparov held it as he was the best player in the world. Kramnik has not been playing as well and hence his claim to being the world champion lacks credibility. Topalov has earned the right to be called world champion.

world chess championship 2005

The most credible event yet to "unify" the world chess championship is underway in San Luis, Argentina. Anand, Topalov, Leko, Judit Polgar, Adams, Morozevich, Svidler and Kasimdzhanov are playing a double round-robin. Catch updates at Chessbase and Chesspro.

zonealarm 6.0 woes

ZoneAlarm is a wonderful firewall product for Windows from Zone Labs. There is a basic free version and a pay one with more features.

Their new version 6.0 has caused lots of grief. It breaks several programs and is difficult to uninstall. Version 6.0.667.000 broke my Cisco VPN client v4.6. After fiddling around with uninstalling and trying to delete all remnants of it, I found that the best instructions are at this post from the Zone Labs forum. I successfully went back to version 5.5.094 and things are working once again.

Katrina

An account from two conference attendees stuck in New Orleans about the lack of help from authorities for people remaining in the city.

Once again, at gunpoint, we were forced off the freeway. All the law enforcement agencies appeared threatened when we congregated or congealed into groups of 20 or more. In every congregation of "victims" they saw "mob" or "riot".

We felt safety in numbers. Our "we must stay together" was impossible because the agencies would force us into small atomized groups.

A blog by two Houston professors about the condition of evacuees at the Astrodome.

New Microsoft OS

This is how The Register describes the announcement of the name:

Microsoft finally dropped the Longhorn moniker today
and “revealed” that its next generation client
operating system will be known as Vista when it ships
next year.

...

The corporate video accompanying the announcement
went some way to filling in the details. It seems
using Vista will, at last, enable you to: sit in front
of a computer, show someone your tablet PC, show
someone else your mobile phone, get into cars while
carrying a laptop and walk through sun-soaked rooms
with highly polished floors, even while being buffeted
by pulses of multicoloured light.

BenQ DVD writer

Purchased a BenQ DVD writer DW 1620 PRO from newegg recently. Came with firmware version G7Z9. Destroyed several but not all DVD-Rs to begin with and then destroyed all after a few weeks. It would start writing the DVD, then freeze some way through. Turns out that it works better with a different series of firmware, one that is distributed with the retail version of the drive.

Steps for firmware installation (on Windows):

1. Get WinDWFlash from http://dvdpro.club.st/firmware/BenQ/WinDWFlash.rar
2. Get the latest .CVT format firmware from http://dvdpro.club.st/firmware/BenQ_FW.htm#DW1620 (I used the B7T9 version)
3. Run WinDWFlash.exe and install the CVT file. (Running the installer from the manufacturer will not work - it will refuse to install the B7 series firmware).
4. Download the latest firmware from the BenQ support site (I used B7V9) and install it.

Standard disclaimers apply: You will void your warranty. You may destroy your drive. Etc, etc.