Blogging again!!!

Well, its been over a year now since I have blogged. Not that I had lost my login or something. Just that the past year and a half has been quite uneventful. Well to be honest, my life is pretty uneventful itself. I am like the proverbial John Q Public. Anyways, some good things have happened to me during the time and some bad things have popped up from time to time. I did manage to find a better paying job with a 30% bump at the end of September. I also managed to, finally, get my H-1. On the other hand, I didn't get my H-1 last year and my project at Wells Fargo ended on Christmas 2007. My grand mom passed away in September 2007. That was pretty tough on me.

Pretty nice things have been happening to people whom I love and care. To start with, my parents moved back to Mangalore. Which is nice, since they kind of love Mangalore and any other place isn’t good enough. My sister will be graduating at the end of this month and my cousin Akashatha has already graduated. But the best news has been about two of my best friends, Vikram and Nithin. No. Not me, but the other Nithin Kamath. Vikram got engaged on May 3rd and Dongs (Nithin) will be getting hitched soon. Vikram and I have been like the best buddies through four years at Manipal. Studied together, partied together. I never thought that life would be fun without him. And truly, it isn’t. Even though I call him once every month or so, it isn’t same as riding his bike to end point and having endless philosophical discussion about The Matrix. I was deeply disappointed about missing his engagement and I am even sadder that, in all probabilities, I would miss his marriage. Anyways, Best of Luck to both Vikram and his better half, Vibha.
Coming back to Dongs. Well, I am little bit angry at Dongs about this whole thing. I knew he was dating someone back home but whenever I posed the question to him he would flatly deny it. Things got bit complicated when his beau started emailing me, thinking that I am “her” Nithin. Well it’s not the first time something like this has happened since both Dongs and I share the same first and last names. Probably wouldn’t be the last time. But I am really happy for him. He has been a good roommate and a great friend. And I think Priya is probably the luckiest gal in the world to have him. My Best Wishes to Priya and Dongs!

Nithin Kamath

www.nithinkamath.net

My Review of Apple iPhone!!!

Well looks like I have not blogged for a while now! So what better way to start blogging in 2007 then reviewing Apple iPhone?
iPhone is Mac enthusiast's dream come true. For long iPhone was thought to be a insider joke by one Mr. Jobs to keep those pesky media of the tail. Not anymore. The only people who are not laughing now are people in our good ol' Redmond , WA.
Anyways... Is iPhone the ultimate mobile device? Yes! It has got everything. A really, really good media player (People who have used iPods know this), a gorgeous wide screen, a smartphone, small form factor, my favorite: WiFi and Bluetooth, a really really good browser, Google Maps, and mail and contact utility.
Still it's not perfect. Something you will miss is the the feel of buttons. I hope some visually impaired person is not offended by this. They use the feel of the keyboard to make calls and dial numbers.
Secondly, it has a built in battery! This is a real disadvantage for people who are on the phone all the while! What will person do if his battery runs out? I don't think apple will be building in a AC port anytime soon into iPhone. So you will need the USB sync cable or a doc to recharge the batteries. Like a iPod. Also, you know USB Power Adapter will cost another $29.
Thirdly, there are no expansion ports! I know, I know you guys will probably say why do you need one when you have 4 to 8 GB of built in Hard Drive. Well, to add to the phone devices which are built in on a SD Card. Like say, a GPS module to go along with that perfect integration with Google Maps.
Lastly, I still don't agree with Steve Jobs' notion that just fingers are enough. I prefer to write or take notes. A graffiti like software and a stylus will add additional functionality.
And for those who think $499 is a steep price. Well it's not!
Let me compare it with devices which work the same way and were not covered by the Apple CEO's keynote presentation.
1. Sony's Vaio UX which costs $1899.99, is bulky and is not a phone. Yeah, it is a full fledged computer but what's extra features do people use?
2. Palm's flagship PDA TX which is iPhone minus Phone and cost's $399.
3. Another Palm product. LifeDrive which has a built in hard drive but costs $399! And again bulky and no phone.
4. Other Smartphones like Motorola Q, which doesn't have storage and a 2GB miniSD costs extra!
The only thing I am not sure is whether the pricing will remain constant like iPods while additional features are added or will it become cheeper and cheeper as time progresses. Remember RAZR used to cost around $200 when it came out!!!
Well, I would be not running to the nearest Apple Store , yet to Pre Order my phone. I will wait for a while.
One, for the prices to go down with addition of rebates from Cingular.
Two, to see that the screens do not have nano kind of issues.
Over all great product and after the Google and Yahoo! CEOs get their ones, I am sure I will be laying my hands on one of them soon. Image courtesy and copyright Apple.
Rating: ****1/2

Nithin Kamath
www.nithinkamath.net

My Review of Dhoom:2!!!

I saw Dhoom:2 over this weekend... One word of advice: "DON'T WATCH THIS MOVIE!!!"
Rating: 1/2

Nithin Kamath
www.nithinkamath.net

My Review of Casino Royale!!!

Well... The movie wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. In fact, I kind of really liked the movie. I have to confess though, I had my reservations about Daniel Craig's ability to play 007. I like him in Munich, but I never thought that he would make a good Bond. And yes, he didn't. In the classical sense. But on his own... He was Great!
Some of the good points of the movies were also the factors which many Bond fans might not like. Bond in this movie is arrogant. That's where he differs from the other Bonds. Bond is over confident! None of the previous versions of this MI6 agent were over confident. In fact, they always doubted themselves. No gadgets! No cars!!! I mean there is no watch with extra fittings, mobile phones with lasers, or briefcases!!! And the Car is just a Car!!! One with just 4 wheels and a GPS!!! And the way the car was destroyed! Well, Sad!!! And to top it off, there is no Q or P and Monneypenny is a He! Bond is more of a fighter than a thinker now!!! Just shoot and kill!!! Just a brute guy, unlike the others, who were sophisticated. That brings us to the last point!!! Bond in this movie likes to kill!!! In fact, he kind of derives some sadistic pleasure from it!!!

As for the Bond Girls!!! Hmmm.... Isn't the title Bond Girl compliment enough?

Over all a great flick and a nice watch. I strongly suggest you indulgence of this new installment of the Bond Franchise.
Rating: ****

Nithin Kamath
www.nithinkamath.net

My antique US Passport!!!

I finally got my hands on the antique US Passport, which I had won on eBay almost a month back!!! I have been collecting old and expired passports for sometime now. I recently came across this one while randomly searching for collectibles on eBay. I had always wanted to add a old US Passport to my collection but never came across one which was, say within my current budgetary limits. So I bid on it and to my surprise won!!! But it would take me almost a month before I got the thing in my hand. Christos, the seller, sent the item to my Los Angeles, CA address rather than my temporary Fremont, CA address. I had told him about it, but unfortunately he only had the address which, eBay sent to him. Christos was really a nice guy. He corresponded with me frequently, even offered to send me a replacement item, even though it was not his fault! It's really hard to find such sellers on eBay now-a-days! Anyways, I contacted Saiyam to check whether he had received my "Package from Greece". He said he will check and then said "Yes". I had wanted Varun to collect it for me when he came back from Los Angeles, but unfortunately he couldn't. Finally, thanks to Aditi, my "Package" arrived in the Bay Area. Everyone knew about the contents by now, as they had seen my previous item: A Australian Passport. A week went by and the Green Booklet was resting in Aniket's place. Varun forgot to pick it up when he went there for the weekend. I had to wait for another 2 weeks for Varun to go back to Aniket's house and collect it for me. Finally, this Monday, Varun came back with it.
The passport is a nice old US Passport, issued to a Greek "Furrier" called Anthony Dolger. It is one of those Cold War Era documents, which forbade you from visiting Communist Regimes. Well, The Document is in excellent condition for it's age. It contains lot's of visa seals from Greece, Italy and Switzerland. And a renewal stamp from US Department of State. I started collecting passports, because of the revenue stamps in them. And this one has lots. The only thing I didn't like was that the person had written some notes in the last pages of the Passport. The seller had warned me though. But they are nothing but some addresses. In fact, they are nice. It tells me about the person and the time in which he lived!!! Anyways, nice addition to my collection. As a bonus, the envelope contained 3 Greek Stamps of Euro Denomination. Great!!! My first Euro stamps!!!
You can read more about passports on Wikipedia.

Nithin Kamath
www.nithinkamath.net

November 07: Election Day!!!

Well... It's election time here in the US and to be fair, nobody really cares!!! People are going around doing their day to day job like nothing special is happening. If it was India, then there would extra "pandus" placed everywhere, and yeah it would be a DRY DAY!!!
But this election is pretty important to the American people. After a long, long time Foreign Affairs tends to dominate the election campaign, rather than the regular issues. That's something new for these guys... 80% of American's can't locate Iraq on the map, yet the War in Iraq is what they feel the most about!!! And who can blame them for it.
Unlike the last elections the following are not, well atleast on the top, of the issues list:

• Gay Rights,
• Abortion,
• Liberal / Conservative Judges,
• Unemployment and
• Tax Concessions.

The things that are dominating this election cycle are:

• War in Iraq,
• Gas Prices,
• Job Losses,
• Low Wages and
• Out-Sourcing.

And you say campaign in India is bad, well, you should check out some the campaign ads on TV. Slander is a milder term for them. They are outright insults!

• "This guy is a traitor!!!"
• "This guy is unpatriotic!!!"
• "This guy works for Special Interests!!!" or
• "This guy is soft on Terrorists!!!"

This would be the 3rd ElectionS after 9/11 yet, al-Quida and terror still tops the Republican aganda. It's less than 24 hours before the Polling Booths open and the DHS is yet to raise the Terror Alert from Yellow to Orange!!! Not that I am cozy with Democrats though. Frankly, I would prefer a Republican Congress than a Democrat one... Who wouldn't want lower taxes!!! And personally, Republican administration is very, very tough on terrorists, I feel. And I do like their Immigration Bill. Also, I don't want a lame duck President or a lame duck Congress!!! Both of them will not get any work done.
It's always surprising to see Indian-American favoring Democrats than Republicans because, culturally and ideologically, Republicans' conservative viewsare pretty close to India thinking.
All in all, I do hope that American's get out and VOTE!!! considering that places like Somalia and Iran has more voter turn out than the US!!!What ever happens tomorrow, it might actually have some impact on me, I guess!!! So lets hope for the best!!!

Nithin Kamath
www.nithinkamath.net

Wells Fargo hires my services!!!

I woke up this morning, not to the familiar "Fab Farm" tone that I have set up for my alarm but to my "Fear Factor" ringtone. I wasn't expecting a call from my dad so early in the morning, so I was kind of surprised to see my phone ringing. The caller ID showed a 415, San Francisco, area code. When I picked up it was Mariela, my Technical Recruiter from IT Ascent. "Hello Neeten! I have some news for you. I just got a call from Wells Fargo and they really liked you! They want you on board as soon as possible. So can you start from the 13th?" Wow! Finally! I got the call I have been waiting for so long. My interview with Wells Fargo, this Tuesday, didn't go as good as I planned it. Sure, I answered all their questions. But I kind of felt that my answers were not satisfactory! You know. The kind of answers you know are right but you still feel that you could have done better. Anyways, Mariela takes my personal details for the background check and tells me to wait 3 to 4 days for the official confirmation of the start date, after the background check in done with. You know the kind of check the employers to do to make sure you are not some drug lord, deliquent or a bail jumper. And what do you expect? Its Wells Fargo... one of the largest banks in the whole of the US. Anyways, I hang up and go to the bathroom to brush and get ready for one of the nicer days I had since a long time! While brushing, I suddenly realise that I had not asked Mariela, where am I actually placed!!! Wells Fargo had openings in both their Minneapolis, MN and San Francisco, CA offices!!! Where will I be on the 13th!!! I hurry back to my phone and give Mariela a call back. "Hello, Mariella, I kind of forgot to ask you. Where am I being placed? Is it San Francisco or Minneapolis?" She laughs "Oh Neeten, its San Francisco." Great! Well I spend the rest of my day calling family and friends, telling all about my project. It will be in their 155 Powell St Office, I will be working as a Test Engineer, Its a Datawarehouse Testing Project, The length of the project is quite long, and so on. I also had to fill out those pesky forms for the background check. Well in anycase, the job sounds really interesting and I can't wait to start. If you already don't know about Wells Fargo, you can know better by clicking on the Wells Fargo logo on the left. Wells Fargo Logo Copyright: Wells Fargo.

Nithin Kamath
www.nithinkamath.net